Tinkerbell And The Journey Of Hope
by CatGal15
Summary: Chaos strikes Pixie Hollow, and the fairies must set their differences aside to recover.
1. Chapter 1

The evening was warm in Pixie Hollow. The few clouds that had formed were so thin that the stars could still be seen shining through. The moon was a large crescent.

Tinker Bell was sitting on the seashell and acorn steps that led to her home, looking up at the sky and brainstorming ideas for more helpful creations, when a sudden movement in the distance made her look toward Needlepoint Meadow. A line of dust was rising from the ground, and the flowers were swaying.

Tinker Bell put down her notepad and pencil and rose into the air, flying languidly toward the field. When she realized they were sprinting thistles, she reacted in fear and could only be happy they were dashing away from Pixie Hollow.

"Vidia," Tinker Bell groaned. She turned and flew toward the neighborhood of the fast-flying talent guild.

When Vidia did not answer the door, Tinker Bell decided to try the Dust Depot. She let herself in to a dark and empty interior. Turning, she saw Terence walking by the Depot, so she closed the door and walked toward him. "Terence!"

He looked at her and smiled. "Hey, Tink."

"Do you know where Vidia might be?"

"Probably practicing her talent. I see Zephyr over there; she might be able to help you." Terence smiled again and walked away, obviously distracted by the binder in his hands. "Back to the A's. Arland, sick; Artemis, Mainland; Avery. Avery is available." He closed the binder and flew away.

Tinker Bell watched him go. "Okay! Good to see you!" she called. He didn't hear her. She sighed and began walking toward Zephyr.

"Hey! Zephyr!"

"Hey, Tink! I had an idea. I'm going to create a new game to add to the Four Seasons Festival this year. The fast-flying fairies will race from one end of Neverland to the other! And I'm designing the trophy right now, look at this..."

"Zephyr, can you help me? I'm looking for Vidia."

"Oh. Um, I think she went to Needlepoint Meadow to check on the sprinting thistle trap. Check this out, Tink. I'm going to get a sewing talent to put wings on the..." Zephyr's words ran out when she turned around and Tinker Bell was gone. Zephyr looked up to see a golden trail of pixie dust following her into the night.

-x-

Tinker Bell came to hover above Needlepoint Meadow. "Vidia!" she called. She remained hovering high in the air as she looked wildly around for Vidia. But her only response was a Scout's shrill, demanding whistle.

Looking down, Tinker Bell saw five dark figures swooping after the thistles. Feeling her heart pounding, Tinker Bell turned and flew back to Vidia's house, knocking on the door. Eventually, Vidia would find her there.

Unless...Unless Vidia already knew the thistles had escaped, and she had left Pixie Hollow for good.

Suddenly the door opened behind her and illuminated the porch in light. Tinker Bell turned to see a sleepy and grumpy Vidia looking at her, rubbing an eye. "What is it, Tink?"

Tinker Bell stood. "Vidia, the sprinting thistles are free! The Scouts are trying to catch them."

Vidia dropped her hand, putting it on the door knob. "Thanks for including me in that." She backed up, but Tinker Bell grabbed the door.

"That's all you're going to say?"

"You woke me up to tell me the Scouts are doing their job."

"Because you failed at yours!" Tinker Bell put her hands on her hips. "You should at least help them!"

"I'd just get in their way." Vidia started to close the door, then paused and opened it again. "What do you mean, I failed'? I succeed at everything."

"You're the one who built the trap so close to Pixie Hollow."

"I didn't build it anywhere near Pixie Hollow!" Vidia stepped outside and closed the door. "Follow me. I'll show you where the trap is," she grumbled as she flew off of the porch. Tinker Bell turned and followed her.

"Did you check on it today?"

"I don't need to check on it." Vidia rolled her eyes, annoyed by the slow pace Tinker Bell was setting. "Can you fly any faster than this?"

"Nope."

"You can now," Vidia answered, and grabbed her hand. The two of them were gone in an instant, reaching the thistle trap in no time. They landed and Tinker Bell wobbled unsteadily, lifting quickly off the ground.

"Please don't do that again."

Vidia walked a ways and turned, spreading out her hands. "Look. You can't even see Pixie Hollow from here."

Tinker Bell observed the location, which was basically the middle of nowhere. "What's your point? Those things can move...strange as it seems," she added under her breath.

Vidia turned and observed the lock, but it hadn't been opened. "Come here," she ordered. "Feel this. It's still done up."

Tinker Bell examined the lock as well. The gate had never been opened, yet inexplicably the trap was empty. The fairies walked in different directions along the trap and met each other at the opposite end, where they looked down to see the truth in the soil.

"It's been moved," Vidia announced, as she knelt and pointed to the imprint of where the trap had been for so long.

"How?"

"Something a lot bigger than a fairy was here."

Tinker Bell considered. "Cheese?"

"He's too chicken."

"Huh. I thought he was a mouse," Tinker Bell joked, and Vidia rolled her eyes again. Tinker Bell began looking around. "How do you think the Scouts are doing?"

"Well, as usual. Then again, the sprinting thistles are challenging," Vidia remarked, as she reflected upon her own attempts to capture them.

"I remember. Who would want those things free?"

The fairies exchanged a troubled glance. Alone together in the quiet night, Vidia continued exploring the trap.

"What about Fiona?"

"Who?"

"The lynx, in The Winter Woods. Could she have moved it?"

Vidia stood up, giving Tinker Bell a long look. "We're eighty miles out."

Tinker Bell didn't respond, but followed Vidia straight up, where they hovered high above the ground. The girls looked in multiple directions and at the same time, they turned around to observe the human houses not too far away. 


	2. Chapter 2

Avery was an enchanting fairy, with wild red curls and expressive brown eyes, and a cute spattering of freckles all over her skin. Moving methodically, she measured the pixie dust for what was at least the fifty-eighth time, then walked it farther down the conveyor belt to package it.

She poured it into the box and turned to give it to Fairy Gary. His sudden closeness startled her and she jumped, spilling the pixie dust all over him. His kilt, decorated with golden sparkles, began to lift and he quickly pinned it down.

"S-sorry, Fairy Gary. You surprised me."

He grunted and brushed off the pixie dust. "The broom is in that closet," was all he said, before walking away. Fearing for her job, Avery was wincing as she jogged to the closet and began rummaging for the broom. How many mistakes would he tolerate?

She carried the broom to the sparkles, and as she changed her position on the broom stick she hit something behind her. She spun and knocked Terence atop the head. "Oops! Sorry!"

"I'm getting used to it," he answered, in an unusually high voice before walking away.

Avery was grimacing again as she continued sweeping up her mess. Suddenly the door to the Depot blew open and seconds later, Vidia shot into the room. She walked up to Fairy Gary and began speaking in a hushed voice, and Avery tried to focus on her task as a dust keeper instead of eavesdrop, as tempting as it was because of their quiet voices and somber expressions.

"Not at all?" Avery finally heard Vidia ask, and she could lip-read Fairy Gary's no. Vidia said one last thing to which he nodded, and Vidia turned around and left the Depot, making unnerving eye contact with Avery before she pulled the door shut.

Avery dumped the dust back into the box and brushed the pan clean with a shaking hand. Setting the pan down on top of the table, she promptly knocked it to the floor.

She was kneeling to retrieve it when a large shadow fell over her and Fairy Gary cleared his throat. Avery stood, forcing herself to smile even though her eyes betrayed her worry.

"Avery," he said gravely. "When you joined the Depot, you knew that each keeper must be careful."

"I know - "

"And you have had more mishaps today than I have in a year. I worry about you. But we cannot be..." He paused when he saw her expression. "We cannot afford mistakes."

"I know, I know, I...I'm sort of, kind of clumsy."

"I need to let you go, Avery. Talk to Zarina if you want a new talent."

"What do you mean?"

"She can help you." Looking sad and tired, Fairy Gary turned and walked back to his desk. As he settled down, Silvermist entered the Depot, gracing the room with her gentle smile. "Ah, Silvermist," Fairy Gary said. "Are you here for your ration?"

"I'm here for double; the nature talents are going to the Mainland for winter tonight."

"Ah, yes. A double scoop it is."

Silvermist accepted the bag he handed her. "Thanks a lot, Fairy Gary. I'll see you soon," she said as she left. She was followed outside by Avery.

"Sil, do you like being a water talent?"

"I love it."

"Which part do you like best?"

"Well...I really like decorating the spider webs."

Avery shuddered. She did not care for spider webs, nor the creatures that made them. "Thanks, Sil. Have fun on the Mainland."

"Have fun...keeping dust," Silvermist answered brightly, and flew away.

Avery considered the talents, trying to find one that appealed to her in every aspect. Deciding she needed to speak with her friends, she flew toward the animal fairy's neighborhood. She and her friends always met in Morgan's house, because it was in the middle of Pixie Hollow. If they met in any other friend's house, they would all have different travel times.

Avery arrived at the same time as her other friends. As usual, Morgan had opened the door for them and they filed inside. Among Morgan and Avery was Blink, a light fairy with long blond hair and hazel eyes. She always wore a floral tank top that hung to her hips, and black leggings.

There was fast-flying talent Gail, whose long brunette hair had sideswept bangs that hung over one of her intense aqua eyes.

And finally there was Rush, another fast-flying fairy, who had chin-length platinum blonde curls with a single streak of purple, to accent her lavender eyes and match her outfit.

As the only fairy without a talent, Avery suddenly felt like an outsider as she followed her friends through the delicate fairy house, taking in how every corner had been padded. She looked up at Morgan. "You did this because of me, didn't you."

"When you cut yourself on my counter, I felt liable."

"I heard a message on the wind," Rush announced. "The sprinting thistles are free, and the Scouts have not been heard of."

"I know," Morgan answered.

"So do I," Blink answered.

"Old news," Avery chipped in. "We all know how difficult those things are. However long it takes, they will succeed. I wasn't going to come here today," she confided, "But I needed your advice."

"You needed advice?" Blink asked. "Wow...Normally you're too stubborn to listen."

"Well, it's important."

"What's up, Av?" Rush asked.

"I was let go from dust-keeping duty. And, I don't have a second talent. Fairy Gary told me to talk to Zarina...But before I decide on my new talent, I need to know what you guys think of yours. And...talk to a garden fairy. And...a tinker fairy."

"Oh, you definitely shouldn't be a tinker," Morgan said hastily. "Honey, you would hurt yourself, you would hurt others - it's a bad idea to give you sharp things."

Avery made a face at her, but found she could not argue. "Then...what's it like to be an animal fairy? I mean, what part do you absolutely hate?"

"None of it!"

"Really? You like rats, and bats, and...spiders." Avery shuddered again.

"Hey, they're not scary at all to me. And once you're an animal fairy, you won't be afraid either. They listen to animal fairies; they like us. Because they can sense our talents."

"Why don't you experiment first?" Blink suggested. "Try them all."

Avery's eyes lit up. "I can do that?"

"Well, sure. Zarina did."

"If you're going to start tinkering, I beg you to do that in my house," Morgan piped up.

Avery looked around the baby-proofed room and gave a subtle nod.

"If you decide to become a fast-flying talent, you can compete in Zephyr's event with us in the Pixie Hollow Games!" Rush enthused.

"Oh, I can't wait!" Gail added. "The finish line will be at the cove!"

"And did you see the cute little trophy?"

Only Blink noticed when Avery stood and began walking for the door. Blink stood and followed her. "Are you leaving already?"

"Yeah, I need to find Zarina. The nature talents are going to the Mainland tonight, and if I decide on that type of talent, I'd really like to join them."

"If you decide on that type of talent..." Blink shrugged. "We'll miss you."

Avery raised a brow and cocked her head. "You're nature talents!" she pointed out.

Blink considered. "Oh. Right."

Avery let herself out. Flying away, she sighed and shook her head. "The lights are on, but nobody's home."

She flew low, skimming the grounds of Pixie Hollow until she finally found Zarina. She angled upward and landed, flapping her wings even harder to steady herself when she landed.

"Still learning how to fly?" Zarina asked.

"No, I'm just...Yeah," Avery lied. "Listen, I heard about your alchemy and I'd like to experiment with all of the talents."

"Oh. Well, alright, but...you should ask Morgan if you can practice at her house. I hear she Avi-proofed it."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Avery grumped.

"Alright. We'll start with light. Nice and simple. A perfect fit for you."

A loud and shrill scream interrupted them, echoing throughout Pixie Hollow, and turning to face the noise Avery was horrified to see two people running toward their village. And the sprint-ing thistles were right on their heels.

"Split up!" the older human yelled, and the humans lunged in different directions. Fairies scattered as they came barging into Pixie Hollow, trampling fairy houses. Avery jumped aside and the human's feet narrowly missed her. Smoke was filling the air, blocking her view of the ground just inches before her.

With a scream, Avery shot into the air toward safety. But before she could get there, a sprinting thistle crashed into her and deeply cut into her as it ran past. Badly injured and unconcious, Avery tumbled into the billowing plume of smoke. 


	3. Chapter 3

The human's foot came crashing down upon Tinker Bell's house, missing her by a single fairy's foot as it took out the ceiling and two walls. The human screamed in pain at the same time that Tinker Bell screamed in fear. Moving faster than she thought she was able, she shot into the air and hovered, fanning smoke from her face and watching the humans crash away from Pixie Hollow.

She coughed the smoke from her lungs and twisted in the smoke, covering her mouth with her hands when she saw the sprinting thistles. She tried to count them, but their forms faded as they ran into Pixie Hollow. Tinker Bell could hear them scraping the houses, or whatever remained of them.

Unable to do anything more until the thistles were gone, Tinker Bell landed in a high branch and listened to the thuds and scrapes from below. Suddenly sprinting thistles began knocking into the tree, shaking the branch upon which she sat. She lifted quickly into the air.

The smoke was so thick! Even the bottom of the tree was devoured completely from sight. Tinker Bell flew into the remains of her house and began searching, finally grabbing two of her creations; a fan, and a device inspired by Blaze's tail that shone light at the flick of a switch. She called it a shiner.

She carried the fan and shiner outside with her, turning both on. The shiner illuminated what had been hidden beneath the smoke, which the fan blew away. She could no longer hear the scraping, bumping bodies of the sprinting thistles, and looking in the direction they had taken she could see a lot of them running away from Pixie Hollow, following the poor humans.

Tinker Bell could only assume it was safe. She slowly lowered down into the smoke, fanning it away and shining her light. Though it was daytime, the smoke was so dark that her wings glowed. Her visibility was poor, and Pixie Hollow was silent.

"Hello?" she called into the stillness. "Anyone?"

No reply. She flew slowly forward. "Can you hear me?" she tried again, and listened care-fully. No one answered, but she thought she saw a faint light up ahead. She flew faster. "Hello!" she yelled.

Suddenly a wall of blinding light jumped up in front of her. The heat was scorching, and she shot backward. Terence's name tore from her lips with such intensity that her cheeks went red. She spun and saw an area where the smoke was starting to clear, and she flew to it and found herself staring at an area littered with pixie dust.

"Terence! Fairy Gary!" she yelled. "Zarina?"

Nothing. She turned to look fearfully at the fire. It jumped and danced, illuminating the smoke. Blinking bright spots from her eyes, Tinker Bell piled her items onto one arm and outstretched her free hand, feeling for heat. It was cool.

She raised her fan and turned slowly, blowing away more smoke. Walking away from the fire she bumped her foot into something hard. "Ow!" she exclaimed, and blew away the smoke, casting the light from her shiner onto the wheel of a wagon, smashed into three pieces.

A moan startled her, and she dropped to her knees and put her items down, feeling her way along the ground until her hand curled around a boot. She fanned away the smoke and gasped when she recognized Bobble.

He groaned again and she crawled closer to look him in the face. "Bobble! Bobble...can you hear me?"

"I hear you," he said weakly. "My legs...Can't feel my legs."

"We have to get you out of here. There's a fire, I don't know where it's going...You have to fly."

He pushed himself up into a sitting position and blindly patted the floor. Tinker Bell grabbed his glasses and slid them on for him. "Go somewhere high. My place, go to my place. And rest."

Bobble flew slowly away, his body entirely limp. Tinker Bell grabbed her shiner and fan and looked around. The smoke was starting to clear and the fire was becoming more visible. It was consuming Lucinda's house. Tinker Bell stood and ran past the flames, leaping onto the found-ation. There was only one wall left. "Lucinda!" she called. "Are you here? Can you hear me?"

No reply. Tinker Bell flew into the fading smoke. Forms were starting to manifest; she could see the faint twinkle of the pixie dust that covered the ground. She left dainty little footprints as she walked through Pixie Hollow.

Coming out of the tinkers' neighborhood, she surveyed the Dust Depot. It looked intact, but light still came from within. She zipped quickly to the open door and peered tentatively inside. It was empty, and untouched.

Tinker Bell approached the desk and peered behind it, but nobody was hiding there. She flew up to the second level. It was also empty, and so was the third and highest floor. Tinker Bell walked out onto the balcony and gazed out at Pixie Hollow. The fire was growing, but the smoke from the fallen houses had cleared. The damage was extensive. Houses were crushed, roofs were caved in. The flowers had been smashed.

Tinker Bell scaled the balustrade and flew toward the fast-flying talents' neighborhood. As she flew away she heard the whoosh of the fire and then the shattering of glass.

There was only one damaged house in the light fairies' neighborhood. The garden talents' neighborhood only had scratches on the outer walls, but the animal talents' neighborhood con-tained almost as much damage as the tinker fairies' neighborhood.

"Fawn?" Tinker Bell called. "Anybody?"

"Tink!"

Tinker Bell barely had time to turn around before Terence was hugging her. She eagerly returned the embrace. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"You too."

"Listen, Bobble is at my house. He's hurt, and he's alone. I need to keep looking. But if you could keep him company and look out for him..."

"Sure, I'm on it." He squeezed her hands and started flying away, then doubled back and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Be safe."

And he was gone again. Alone, a wave of sadness threatened to drown Tinker Bell and she blinked back tears as she flew through the neighborhood.

The bee liner device she had created was smashed into pieces. Tinker Bell looked up and gasped, seeing the damage to Fawn's house. It was missing a wall and leaning to the side. Every-thing she owned had fallen to the grass, and the roof was barely attached.

Tinker Bell looked down in sadness and saw the still form of a fairy, lying in the shadow of the lopsided house. She zipped down to the fairy and couldn't recognize the dust keeper's wild red curls. She stared at the fairy's pale face. Her eyes were closed and she was covered in deep, open cuts.

A creak from above made Tinker Bell grab the fairy and start to move her, but the gasp stopped her. "Don't move me," the fairy whispered.

"You'll be crushed!"

"There's nothing you can do for me."

"A Healing talent can help you. Work with me," Tinker Bell groaned, as she pulled the fairy's arm around her neck. "Come on."

"Leave me." The fairy's eyes fluttered, only to close again. "I'll just slow you down."

Tinker Bell ignored her protests, dragging her out of harm's way. There she collapsed, falling to her knees. At the same instant, the roof tore off the house and crashed to the ground, missing the fairy's toes by the width of a single hair.

"I don't think we've met. I'm Tinker Bell. What's your name?"

The fairy did not respond. She wasn't moving. Tinker Bell shook her, but yielded no results. With fast and jerky movements, she sprinkled the fairy with pixie dust and watched her rise limply into the air. Tinker Bell flew and grabbed her, and carried her quickly and easily to the remains of her house.

Her arrival summoned Terence. "Do you know her?"

"That's Avery!" Terence gasped, kneeling beside them. "Is she...dead?"

"I don't know. I have to go." Tinker Bell squeezed his shoulder as she stood and flew toward the water fairies' neighborhood. But, that too yielded no results; and Tinker Bell returned home with a heavy heart.

She stopped, staring at the flames that ravaged her house. She flew as close as she dared, trying to peer past the flames and the waves of heat.

"Tink! Over here!"

Tinker Bell spun to look at Terence, who sat on the same tree branch she had chosen. Bobble lay beside him, rubbing his eyes.

Tinker Bell flew to them. "Where's Avery?"

Terence shook his head. "She was gone when you brought her here."

Tinker Bell flew slowly closer and sat beside him. All at once she was crushed by sadness, exhaustion and an overwhelming sense of loss; and she leaned into him and covered her eyes. He put an arm around her shoulders and could feel them trembling.

"It'll be okay," Terence began, but Tinker Bell shook her head.

"You can't know that," she muttered, and they looked up as thunder growled in the sky.

Terence sighed. "Might as well get cozy," he said, and reached up, snagging a particularly big leaf from the tree. He draped it across both of them and put his arm around her again. "Huh. If it weren't for that view, this could actually be nice."

He looked over at Bobble as he rested his head on Terence's other shoulder.

As they sat quietly upon the branch, listening to the first drops of rain, a sudden thought occur-red to Tinker Bell and she withdrew from Terence. "Avery's not still in there, is she?"

The guys looked at her. "Well, yeah," Terence admitted.

Tinker Bell suddenly stood and began flying toward her blazing house, but Terence captured her hand. "You can't go out there!"

She pulled her hand from his, but returned under the tree. Terence was just starting to feel relieved when Tinker Bell began scratching the tree trunk. He stood up. "What are you doing?"

She turned, holding a piece of bark that was bigger than she was. Holding it over her head she zipped out from the security of the tree and disappeared in the increasing rainfall. Much too soon, she returned, carrying nothing but her tree bark umbrella. "She's not there," she announced.

"What?"

"There's a hole in the back wall. Someone must have been looking for me."

She exchanged glances with the sparrowmen.

"Maybe they returned to Pixie Hollow," Bobble noted.

"We should do another sweep."

"Bobble should stay here," Terence argued.

"No, I can go. My legs are hurt - I can still fly, and I can help you look. The more eyes we have, the better," he answered, as Tinker Bell handed him her tree bark.

"Stick some moss on top. It'll absorb the rain and make it last longer." Tinker Bell cut out another chunk of tree bark.

"Stick it on with what?" Terence answered.

"Tree sap," both tinkers said at once.

Terence began cutting out his own tree bark, but when he yielded a small triangular piece he threw it aside and tried again.

"Are my wings covered?" Bobble asked.

"Yep. How are mine?" Tinker Bell replied.

"All good."

With a grunt Terence pulled out a large chunk of tree bark that could cover all of them. He split it in half. "That ought to do it." He raised it above his head and turned. "Are they under?"

"No, you're holding it wrong. Hold it by the short end," Tinker Bell told him, and he adjusted his position. "Yeah, there you go!"

The fairies flew out from the shelter of the tree and into the rain.

"Alright. Let's stick together this time," Terence began.

"I think we should split up. We'll cover more ground that way," Bobble disagreed.

"Fine. But we meet back at the pixie dust tree in half an hour," Terence demanded, and they parted ways. 


	4. Chapter 4

Terence flew languidly, allowing himself to take in the view. As he turned to examine the hinterland for sprinting thistles and injured fairies, his eyes came to rest upon the Scouts' headquarters and something made him look up. Vidia was perched atop the roof, looking down at him. Her ponytail blew in the breeze and her soaked wings flapped behind her like a gossamer cape. She looked around briefly, then back at him, and seemed to give a subtle nod of decision before standing up. Bending over slightly, she slid down the roof and created a strong wind from the ground up to break her fall. She stumbled and dropped to her knees in the mud.

"You okay?" Terence asked, as he offered his hand.

"Better, as always." She ignored his hand as she picked herself up. "Any other survivors?"

Terence's stomach pitched at her ominous words. "Tink's okay. Bobble's hurt. Avery was taken and killed. Not in that order," he added upon second thought.

Vidia grimaced, making a noise of disgust. "Is that all?"

"So far. But I'm not giving up." Terence turned back to look at her. "Are you?"

She looked at him and narrowed her eyes, angry that he would even feel the need to ask. "Never," she bit. With a swish of her wings she turned around and walked boldly forth into the storm. She did not stop walking until she reached the center of Pixie Hollow and looked into the glowing blue puddles. She dropped to her knees, submerged her hand into the water and let the useless dust drain through her fingers.

Terence flew slowly closer. "Vidia?"

She looked up, craning her head to the left, and before Terence could ask what was on her mind, she was launching herself to her feet and running through the debris. He quickly followed, ducking under a branch of a stately willow as he realized she was heading toward The Hall Of Scepters.

He swooped in close to her. "I'm sure it's fine."

She was unresponsive, her mind only focused on the misfortune that she could only fly fast, and was stuck running at the same speed as any other talent.

She stopped at the tree and stared up at the tall branches in which the rooms had been so well hidden. She had forgotten how far up The Hall was.

Terence smiled at her. "Don't worry. I'll check on it," he told her, and flew easily into the tree to disappear within the branches. Coming into the room, he put his tree bark umbrella onto the table, walked over the spiraling circle on the floor, and let himself into The Hall Of Scepters. Though useless, the scepters made by the water, garden, fast-flying and light talent fairies were all still proudly standing in their alcoves. It appeared unchanged. The moonstone was all that was different. Now shattered, it hung from Tinker Bell's scepter in the center of the room, catching the rays of the dying sun and casting spectrums.

Terence turned and let himself out, pulling the doors shut and retracing his steps to the table to retrieve his makeshift umbrella. Then he flew back down to where Vidia waited with Tinker Bell and Bobble. "Yep, it's safe," he announced.

Vidia sighed, obviously relieved.

"Vidia, you should call it a night soon," Tinker Bell said softly, looking up at the sky.

"Excuse me?"

Tinker Bell looked at her and spoke sympathetically. "There aren't...many things you can outrun."

Vidia relented and turned toward the fairy houses, but suddenly her hands had been grabbed and she was being lifted into the air. Each holding their umbrellas with one hand, Tinker Bell and Terence lugged Vidia into the tree.

"This is the safest place in Pixie Hollow," Tinker Bell said. "I suggest we dry off and get some shuteye. Tomorrow will be a full day."

-x-

Iridessa tried not to show her impatience, but the whimpers were really starting to annoy her. "Everything is going to be okay. You've got to settle down before we cross the border, or your tears will freeze."

"I'm sorry, Dess! I'm just worried," Clank answered.

"I know; I'm sure we're all feeling a little scared. But things will be okay! The Scouts know to come to the bridge in case they got separated."

"And they can help us look!"

She patted his burly arm. "Just keep it together, okay? For me?"

"I'll try," he sniffled.

Walking close together they soon reached the branch that stretched from Autumn into Winter. Clank turned to Iridessa and executed a gallant bow. "Ladies first."

She smiled at him and stepped onto the log, holding out both arms as she walked over the flowing river. Looking up, she smiled at the silhouette of an attentive frost fairy, who redirected to fly to the border. Iridessa turned her back to the fairy, thanking him as he efficiently frosted her wings.

"One more?" he asked, watching Clank step onto the log.

"Please, yes," she nodded, and the pair waited for Clank to cross. But Iridessa had overlooked the dangerous patch of ice that lay in his path. Unlike her, Clank did not miss it.

Arms windmilling, Clank fell off the log and into the swift current, with a scream and a rather big splash.

"Clank!" Iridessa screamed. She flew to the water to see Clank heaving himself up onto a rock.

"I'm fine!" he yelled, and turned his head as a wave hit him in the face. "Still good!"

Then the water suddenly surged up onto the rock, pushing his feet out from under him and knocking him back under the current as the rock disappeared under the water. Iridessa was running before she had consciously told herself to move.

"No!" she screamed as Clank's hand was ripped off the rock.

The frost fairy was flying right beside Iridessa as she zipped downstream. "Clank!" she yelled again.

"He's up here!"

Iridessa looked up at the frost fairy, who was hovering above a half-frozen, half-green chunk of land in front of the waterfall. He disappeared over the edge as she flew up to join him. Clank was unconscious. There was a handprint in the snow on the icy branch.

Iridessa never took her eyes off the pointy icicles as she grabbed a ray of sunlight and bent it, shining the beam onto the icicle directly above Clank's head. It melted and dripped onto him, but as he was being constantly rained on, he did not stir.

"I'll get help," the frost fairy uttered, before flying quickly up over the falls.

Alone with Clank, Iridessa looked at his stomach and realized it was not moving. With quick and shaky movements she began giving him chest compressions, and could only hope she was doing it correctly.

Bending over him, she pinched his nose and breathed into his mouth, retreating when he suddenly rolled over and spewed water into her lap. He looked up at her concerned face and took in the darkening sky past her head, and she helped him when he struggled into a sitting position. Then he looked at her.

"Thanks, Dess," he said. "I am so lucky you're here."

She took his hand, and they looked up as five frost fairies arrived, including the messenger who had frosted Iridessa's wings.

Iridessa released Clank and flew to the messenger, smiling kindly at him. "Thanks," she repeated.

"No problem. It's what Scouts do."

"You're a Scout?"

He examined her doubtful expression. "A Winter Scout."

"Oh! Wow." Iridessa's expression turned cautious. "I hate to ask you for another favor, but it's kind of important. Pixie Hollow was destroyed by humans and sprinting thistles. A lot of us are missing. I would really appreciate it if you and the other Scouts could help us look."

He gave a curt nod. "Not a problem."

"Thank you, um..."

His intense blue eyes pierced hers as he extended a hand. "Val."

Iridessa shook his hand and followed him to the frozen ground, where the frost fairies had transported Clank.

"Is the Queen here?" he was asking.

"No. But Lord Milori is present."

"Where is he?" Iridessa asked.

"It doesn't matter. Your friend has to get out of here, quickly."

"I'm...I'm not welcome here?" Clank asked worriedly. "What did I do?"

The frost fairy began ushering him back to the border. "You fell into the water, or did you forget? Even in the warm seasons, you are at risk of catching a cold. But it would be unavoidable if you went into Frost Forest." He gave him one last push into Autumn.

"I'll give your message to Lord Milori." Val flitted away.

Iridessa pulled Clank further out onto the Autumn half of the log, and they waited. 


	5. Chapter 5

Tinker Bell was the last to awaken the next morning. Bobble was flat on his back, staring up at the branch ceiling. Terence paced. And Vidia was nowhere to be seen.

Tinker Bell got up to her feet. "Where's Vidia?"

"I don't know," Terence fumed. "She was gone when I got up."

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"You needed your sleep. Like you said last night, we've got a big day. I looked for her in Pixie Hollow, but it was empty."

Tinker Bell walked past Bobble and then reconsidered, turning back. "How do you feel?"

He looked at her. "I don't."

"Oh. Well, um..." She turned and looked out from between the branches. "It looks like it'll be a nice day. Do you want to come with us?"

He was unresponsive, appearing to overthink his answer.

"Okay. You know where we'll be."

Terence approached her. "You ready?"

She nodded, and they each gave Bobble one last look before they flew out of the window.

"He'll be okay," Terence reassured her as they flew. "He's in the safest place in Pixie Hol-low."

"Look!" was how she answered him, pointing. Terence followed her excited eyes to a small whirlwind behind the houses. Debris was scuttling across the road.

They landed beside a house and watched Vidia continue to blow the wreckage into a row off to the side. When she was finished and her hands were on her hips, Tinker Bell approached. "Vi-dia?" she asked, and Vidia turned. "Are you sure Pixie Hollow is repairable?"

"I'm not the tinker. But we have to try." Vidia approached the fallen wagon, one side of which was horribly scratched from the thistles. Looking down, she saw a shredded strip of some-thing clear, pinned beneath the cart. Her eyes widened and she looked up. "Come here!"

They hurried over. "Lift it back. That way." Vidia knelt as they obliged, groaning with effort. "A little more, just..." She moved like lightning, grabbing the torn wing. "Got it!"

The wagon collapsed and the fairies jumped backward. Turning, Terence and Tinker Bell quickly spotted the ripped wing folded across Vidia's hands.

"Is that what I think it is?" Terence asked breathlessly.

"Someone was in a real hurry."

Tinker Bell turned and ran a hand along the deep grooves that marred the wagon.

"I can't identify the pattern," Vidia murmured. "But it's at least half a wing."

"Whoever it belongs to is stuck walking," Terence reminded them. "We've got to look. Split up. If you find him, holler."

"Wait," Tinker Bell said, and they paused. "This wagon was like this yesterday. They could be anywhere."

"Then...fly," Terence said helplessly.

Vidia's eyes narrowed. "You leave this to me." She took a few steps away and looked around, and before they could blink she was gone, leaving nothing but a trail of dust in her wake.

Like a petite tornado, she whooshed around Pixie Hollow, disappearing from and returning into sight several times, and then she vanished once more and did not return.

-x-

Vidia slowed down when she saw Fawn standing brokenly in front of her imploding house, and she slowly flew up to her, unable to look away from the jagged strip of Fawn's right wing.

Vidia slowly landed before her. "I'm so sorry," she finally said.

Fawn looked at her with teary eyes that made Vidia's heart hurt. She sighed and when she spoke, her words sounded empty. "At least I got out."

"Yeah. Now there's five of us."

Instead of cheering her up like Vidia thought it would, Fawn sagged and cried out in despair, "Only five?"

Vidia was visibly panicking. "Here. For now. I'm sure there's more."

Fawn looked down and saw the fairy-shaped shadows that began passing over her. She looked up and her hopeful smile faded when she realized they were winter fairies, flying toward Pixie Hollow with frosted wings.

"See? I told you there were more," Vidia suddenly said, and Fawn looked up to see Clank, Iri-dessa and all five of the warm Scouts flying alongside the winter fairies. Vidia smiled and began to fly, but then sobered and flew back down to Fawn. "Hey. Feel like a foot race?"

Fawn tried to smile and they started running after the flying fairy parade. 


	6. Chapter 6

Bobble was sitting on the table when his name was shouted from outside. He tucked his bark tree umbrella under his arm and flew out of the window, sinking down between the branches and staring at all of the fairies. When he saw Clank his depression lifted, and he began smiling.

"We captured all the thistles and relocated them to an island," Nyx was saying.

"Nice work," Sled commented.

"We will post lookout towers in Needlepoint Meadow to monitor activity. And I had a thought. It would benefit all of us if we had other means of protection after we rebuild. I propose growing a wall of thorns around Pixie Hollow..."

Clank noticed Bobble and his booming voice scared everyone. "Bobble!" he shouted gleefully, and flew up to him.

"Ah, your discretion has been greatly missed, Clanky."

"It's good to see you too, Bobble," Clank said with a clueless grin. "Hey, that thingy looks like a rain hat thingy."

"Yeah, I can't get my wings wet. 'Til my legs heal."

"What's wrong with you?"

"Ah, well I haven't had much feeling in 'em, I'm afraid." Bobble noticed Fawn's wings. "But I guess we've all gone through this together."

"Yeah. I almost drowned."

"Oh, Clank, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I didn't. And I'm lookin' forward to rebuilding." Clank looked at Iridessa and waved when she smiled at him. "Iridessa saved my life. And I...I would really like to make her something. To show my appreciation, eh?"

"Aye. That would be very decent of ya."

"The only question is," Clank looked out at the ruined buildings. "How can I?"

Bobble turned to look out at the remains of Pixie Hollow. As they surveyed the ruins before them, they saw Tinker Bell and her friends sliding down a branch that leaned from the land below onto the hill. Together, the four girls started walking into Pixie Hollow. Clank and Bobble began flying after them.

"Got any plans?" Bobble asked.

"We're going to start picking up the place," Tinker Bell answered, and she knelt to retrieve Zephyr's prototype of the trophy for the Pixie Hollow Games. It was scratched and cracked. "Oh, that's a shame."

"She won't be happy at all when she sees that," Iridessa noted.

Tinker Bell's only response was to give her an empty look. Tucking the barely intact trophy under her arm, she continued leading them forward. They gathered as much as they could.

"Where are we going to put everything?" Vidia asked.

"How about the carriage? We can probably lift it if we work together," Tinker Bell suggested.

"It's as good a place as any," Terence answered. He looked down. "Boy. Sure is a lot of dust gone to waste."

Suddenly he walked into Tinker Bell, and he backed up. "Tink?"

She began backing up, too; her eyes fixated on the unspeakably large shadow that continued to grow.

"Humans?" Iridessa whispered timidly.

Vidia stepped protectively in front of Fawn and gasped as Lord Milori ran to the wall. Slowly, he peered around the corner. Then he shook his head and stepped out from behind the wall with a smile on his face. "Hey, Fiona."

Vidia tensed at the huge meow that seemed to fill Pixie Hollow.

Lord Milori watched as the huge lynx walked past the house and stood proudly before the fairies and sparrowmen.

"Here I thought you were joking," Vidia said to Tinker Bell.

A loud crash startled Fiona and the fairies, and they looked over to see that a large crowd of them had uprighted the wagon. Fairies began dumping their armloads of debris and broken treasures onto and between the seats.

As Tinker Bell doubled back to collect more, she heard Sled ask, "Has anyone seen Rosetta?"

Two fairies answered no, and as Tinker Bell knelt on the muddy ground, she looked up at the garden fairies' neighborhood and sighed sadly.

Rosetta, Silvermist, Fairy Gary, even the queen, and so many more were still missing. She clutched the debris close as she flew to the carriage, then opened her arms and let it fall in. Turning back around, she was flying back for a third trip when she thought she saw a light bob past the window in the tinkers' workshop. She paused and while other fairies moved past her from both directions, she waited and hoped to see it again.

"Miss Bell? Are you okay?" Clank asked.

"Oh. Sure I am. I just...need to check something." Tinker Bell began flying, picking up speed as she headed toward the workshop.

Landing on the porch, she opened the door and walked through the tunnel, her fingers crossed behind her back. Coming out into the large chamber, she was heartened to see Lucinda and Chipper, each sitting on a table facing each other and talking. Slate was at his own station, hammering something metallic.

Tinker Bell walked farther inside. "What are you doing here? Why weren't you looking?"

"We did look. A lot," Lucinda answered. "But no one was ever there when we were."

"Is anyone else okay?" Chipper asked anxiously.

"Yeah, there's Clank, and Bobble...and a lot of others. You should come see," Tinker Bell told them, and turned suggestively toward the door. She was glad to hear the hammering stop and six wings beating the air.

She led them back to where the survivors were still packing the wagon. At their arrival, a half-hearted cheer and a smattering of applause rose from the crowd.

"What are you doing?" Slate asked.

"Cleaning up." Terence looked at him. "The more the merrier."

"We're dividing into two groups; cleanup and search party. Pick one," Nyx commanded. As the small cleanup crew continued their labors, the search party grew by three members. And then more, as the cleanup crew began to increasingly dwindle.

-x-

That evening, the survivors regrouped in Pixie Hollow with no good news. Nyx, however, had some bad news to deliver.

"There were three fatalities," she began. "I'm sorry to inform you that one the sparrowmen we lost...is Fairy Gary."

Gasps swept throughout the crowd.

"Another is Rosetta," Nyx continued, and Tinker Bell covered her mouth. "And the third fatality..." Her eyes sought for Tinker Bell's and suddenly she blinked back tears. "I'm sorry. But it was Periwinkle."

Terence grabbed Tinker Bell as her legs crumpled beneath her. He gently lay her down and gripped her shoulders. "Tink! Wake up, Tink..." 


	7. Chapter 7

The crowd was hushed, overwhelmed by the devastating news. Sled was standing very still, trying not to cry. Fawn had fallen to her knees and was sobbing, and Iridessa just stared at Nyx, unable to see anyone else or hear anything more.

Rosetta...

"Nyx, are you sure?" Chase whispered, sparing Fawn a glance.

"Afraid so."

Tinker Bell regained consciousness and stared miserably up at the beautiful, clear sky. It looked so gray. The sun didn't feel as warm. With a groan, she rolled over and climbed reluctantly to her feet, with Terence steadying her on one side and Clank on the other.

A soft brushing noise from behind made her look impassively over her shoulder. Bobble looked angry as he hovered over the ground, mopping up the pixie dust puddles. Suddenly someone was there, hugging Tinker Bell, and she looked down at the long auburn braid before wrapping her arms around Fawn's shaking shoulders.

"I'm so sorry, Tink," Fawn sobbed.

Then, just as quickly, she was gone, leaving Tinker Bell to feel the cutting absence of a friend as well as the irrepairable loss of her sister. Feeling a century older, Tinker Bell turned and flew away, blinded by tears.

She flew up into the burned remnants of her house. Everything with black with soot; her possessions were piles of ash. The tree blocked out most of the light of the setting sun, so her wings were glowing as she stood in the cavity of her home.

She fell slowly to her knees and curled up into a ball as her tears began anew.

-x-

Lord Milori delicately cleared his throat before speaking, trying not to sound as emotional as he felt. "Let's get this first wagonload out."

Fiona trotted over and began nudging the wagon, nosing it along in front of her like she was playing a game. She swiftly pushed it out of the center of Pixie Hollow where the fairies and sparrowmen continued to work.

"Someone did a really good job over here," Val announced, noting the column of debris.

"Vidia did that," Iridessa said, her voice soft with sadness. She piled a load into her arms and waited, listening to the growing rumble of the wagon as Fiona came trotting back, nosing it along.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!" Gliss shrieked, and cowered as Fiona stopped running. The cart kept going, inching up to Gliss, who cowered as Nyx stopped the cart with her hands. Gliss sighed in relief. "Thanks, Nyx."

Nyx walked away, the pixie dust crunching under her shoes. "You!" she shouted to Terence. "Check on the tree."

Gliss dumped her armful into the wagon and smiled sadly at Iridessa as she also dropped in an armful of debris.

Vidia put her hands on her hips, watching the progress. At least some things were repairable. Pixie Hollow was filled with the sounds of a hammer banging onto something metallic, voices, even distant laughter. But something was missing.

She turned and took to the air, flying faster than the speed of sound to Tinker Bell's house. Of course, she was there within seconds; fluttering to a silent landing on the burned floor. She knocked on the wall to get her attention.

Tinker Bell raised her head.

"Hey, you got a second?"

"Who knows how much time we have?" Tinker Bell responded bitterly.

Vidia's brows went up. "Tink, I - "

"I really want to be alone right now, Vidia."

"Well, you're not alone. You've got two sisters in Pixie Hollow who are wondering where you went."

Tinker Bell's face crumpled. "I don't have...sisters," she said brokenly, and got to her feet. "Just get out. Just go!"

"I'm trying to help..."

"If you wanted to help me, you would have done a better job with the trap! This whole thing is because of you!" Tinker Bell's face was cherry-red. "All of it! Peri, Rosetta, Fairy Gary!" Suddenly she had shoved Vidia off of the floor, and Vidia had to flap her wings to keep herself from plummeting. The two fairies just stared at each other.

"You did it on purpose, didn't you?" Tinker Bell finally asked.

"You're crossing the line, Tink!"

"I'm crossing the line?" Tinker Bell's face flushed a horrible shade of red. "My sister is dead because of you."

"It's not because of me!"

"Shut up, Vidia. Just get out of my house." Tinker Bell turned and walked back toward the far end of her house.

Vidia landed again. "You know what, Tink, I came here to pay my respects. Here you are acting like you're the only one who lost someone, the only one who matters. What about Iridessa and Fawn, and what they lost?"

Tinker Bell lifted her head. "Are you saying I don't care about Ro?"

"If the wing fits me, it fits you."

Just outside of Tinker Bell's house, Lumina was arranging sunbeams when Tinker Bell ran into Vidia and grabbed her, knocking her down to the ground. Lumina paused, watching in horror as Vidia landed hard. Then they began fighting.

"You don't know what respect is!" Tinker Bell strained, as she tried pulling Vidia's arms back.

Vidia whirled, and Lumina winced at the powerful smack.

"You're the one who started it," Vidia seethed, stepping away. "You should have just taken the flapping compliment."

Tinker Bell knelt, too breathless to respond. Vidia turned and spared a brief look at Lumina before flying away.

Lumina flew down and landed. "Are you okay, Tinker Bell?"

Tinker Bell looked up and allowed the familiar light fairy to help her stand. "Uh, yeah," she answered uncertainly, dusting herself off. "Well...no, actually."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No. Thank you." Tinker Bell turned and flew sadly into the sunset. 


	8. Chapter 8

Finally Fawn couldn't run anymore. She slowed to a stop and wiped at her eyes, looking around. She was in Springtime Square, where the Everblossom still bloomed proudly. It was untouched by the chaos and still fresh in its beauty. Fawn sighed and knelt by the Everblossom, feeling the loss of Rosetta like the loss of a million strangers.

Something in the distance suddenly moved out from the Everblossom, ever so slowly. Fawn raised her eyes to see a familiar mane of long black hair, attached to a fairy dressed in blue perched daintily atop a water lily.

Silvermist stood up and turned, pausing when she spotted and then recognized the fairy on the distant shore. She leaped onto the water and skated across its totally thaw surface, jumping onto the grass beside Fawn. "Ohh...I'm sorry about your wing." She barely touched it. "Did it catch on a sprinting thistle?"

Fawn's eyes widened. "You know what happened?"

"Yeah. I've been looking everywhere for survivors. I had Rosetta for awhile, but then I had to go and get more dust. Speaking of Rosetta..." Silvermist lifted her hands, showing off the strangely colored seed. "I found this and I want her to see it. Can you help me find her?"

Fawn made a face. "Um, Sil...oh boy. This is going to be the hardest thing I've ever had to tell anyone."

"What is it?"

Fawn sighed and draped an arm over Silvermist's shoulders. "Well, in the midst of everything," she sighed. "Well, there was one accident after another and Rosetta kind of...didn't make it."

"That's good news. She's a little mature to be making accidents."

"No, Sil...No. She didn't...survive."

The innocent sparkle in Silvermist's eyes went out like a light. "What? Sh-she's dead?"

Fawn nodded, tears springing back into her eyes. "Y-yes."

Silvermist lowered her hand, and the seed fell to the forest floor. "No," she whispered. "It has to be some mistake."

"Sil - "

But Silvermist flew away before she could finish. Alone, Fawn sighed and knelt, picking up the strange seed. Any garden fairy would want to see such an eccentric one, so Fawn carried it with her as she walked slowly through spring.

-x-

"I just heard about Ro," Silvermist shouted, as she landed in the rubble of Tinker Bell's house. "Whoa," she added, turning in a slow circle and surveying the damage. "Are you okay?"

Tinker Bell was silent. Silvermist walked over and knelt in the ash, putting a gentle hand on her friend's trembling shoulder. "Tinker Bell?"

Tinker Bell lifted her head and stared at Silvermist through teary, red-rimmed eyes. "Aw, raindrop," Silvermist said, and gave her a sideways hug. "I know. She was my sister, too."

Tinker Bell started crying all over again, and she crawled away from Silvermist and flew quickly away.

"Was it something I said?" Silvermist wondered. She looked at the hole in the wall and got to her hands and knees, sticking her hand through. Then she stuck her head through and despite her sadness, she gave a short laugh. "Whoa. It's like a portal to another world!" she mused, and then an idea occurred to her. "Hm. Maybe it is."

She crawled through with a grunt and then hovered in the air. She began flying and cupped her hands to her mouth. "Rosetta?" she shouted.

Sitting on the tree branch, Vidia shook her head. "Bubble brain."

"Rumble agrees. Rumble thinks she's silly, too."

Vidia looked at Rumble as he sat beside her. "And I can't believe you're still talking like that. Are you desperate for an out-of-body experience?"

He gave her a dirty look. "Rumble thinks you have issues."

"I have it in good authority that Rumble does." Vidia stood up and flew away. Passing over the center of Pixie Hollow, she saw that a lot of it had been cleared. In the growing darkness, the mud still glowed faintly here and there. Pixie Hollow was quieter than before; all she could hear over the beat of her own wings was the distant sound of a hammer on something metallic. And then the sound of shattering glass.

"Clank!" Bobble's faint voice echoed through Pixie Hollow.

"Sorry, Bobble, I didn't see you!"

"That's because ya didn't look!"

Vidia swooped low, blowing the doors open to the workshop. Papers went flying and Bobble was almost knocked back as Vidia's wind rushed through the tunnel and poured into the chamber. She landed on her feet. "What are you kettleheads doing?" she asked slyly.

"We're buildin' somethin' to help us find everybody," Clank blared, as he tried flipping the hammer. He ended up hitting himself in the eye and dropping the hammer on his toe. "Ouch!"

Vidia scoffed. "Some talent," she said, and started walking down the tunnel. Tinker Bell was entering the workshop, and she pushed her way past Vidia, jostling her roughly. The two fairies kept going without a word to each other.

"Watch your feet there, Miss Bell," Clank boomed.

Tinker Bell lurched backward as she surveyed the shards of glass. She watched as Clank swept it up, and when he turned to throw it away she lifted a chunk of glass from the pan. "Hm," was all she said.

"Somethin' on your mind?" Bobble asked.

"Just...tinkery stuff." Tinker Bell turned and flew to the box of lost things, into which she nearly disappeared. Her wings were all that showed. When she popped out of the box and returned to her station, she was holding the blue jewel she had found long ago at the cove. She placed it on her station and sat on her chair, staring at it.

The metallic hammering continued to ring throughout the chamber, and Tinker Bell looked up where Slate was working. Her wings drooped as her shoulders slumped, and she continued to stare at the jewel, wracking her brain for ideas.

"Ah, let's see. Positive angle, one hundred and twenty degrees. No reflex. But...impossibly large vertex."

Clank answered him before he could ask. "I've got screws in my desk."

"Thanks, bud." Bobble flew off the desk on which he had been sitting and flitted to Clank's desk, rummaging for screws. "Ah, this one will be perfect!" He started flying back to his desk and then caught a look at Tinker Bell. Her cheeks were red and her eye was starting to twitch. "Uh, Tink, maybe you're just not in the right head space."

"Huh?" She looked at him. "Oh, sorry, I didn't hear you. I don't think I'm in the right head space."

"Maybe you ought to take a break, aye? Why don't you go for a nice quiet midnight fly?"

She stood quietly and pushed her chair in. "That might be a good idea," she muttered. "I'll see you later, guys."

" Bye, Tink," Clank answered.

-x-

The night was quiet and peaceful as Tinker Bell flew through Pixie Hollow. At first she didn't notice the changes. It wasn't until they were right in front of her that she saw the thorns. She looked around and then shot straight into the air, looking at the nasty ring of blades that had been rapidly grown around their village.

Tinker Bell pouted. "I'll have to remember that," she grumbled. She kept looking around, until she saw a line of fairies walking into The Dust Depot. She flew closer and realized they were bidding each other goodnight and carrying blankets and pillows.

Tinker Bell flew over the thorns and lowered her altitude, then cranked a hard right just for fun, heading toward Sunflower Meadow. Seeing a few flower heads moving though the rest were still, she swooped low and perched on a sunflower, expecting to see sprinting thistles.

Instead, she saw the Scouts surrounding a fairy-sized casket.

Fury looked up and froze, unable to look away from the winged silhouette against the moon. Almost immediately, all of the Scouts were looking at her, obviously horrified by her presence.

Tinker Bell sniffled again, immediately emotional. "It's her, isn't it?"

"You weren't supposed to see this," Fury said, her voice almost a whisper.

Tinker Bell pulled on the flower head, and it bent down to the ground. She stepped off onto the grass and let go of the sunflower, and it sprang back up. "Maybe I should."

Nyx gave a curt nod to the other Scouts and they sprinkled it with fairy dust. Tinker Bell numbly followed, looking at her utterly dark, normal wings and blinking back tears. The Scouts took the casket to The Winter Woods.

When they arrived, Nyx gave a shrill whistle that was quickly echoed by a Winter Scout acknowledging her call. Soon the Winter Scouts came flying into sight, landing in single file on their side of the border.

"A present?" Val asked.

"A fairy," Nyx answered grimly.

The female Scout opened the lid just slightly and then jumped back, letting the lid slam shut. "Great pixie wings!"

Nyx turned at a sniffle from behind and watched Tinker Bell whirl around and take a running start before taking fiercely to the skies. 


	9. Chapter 9

A sneeze made Bobble look up from his work. "Gesundheit."

Clank looked at him in surprise. "Excuse you, Bobble. You should get that checked out."

Chipper's laugh floated down from her station.

"Well I'm callin' it a night, Clanky. And I think I've done it. The rough draft for my cellar looks pretty A1 if I do say so meself."

"Maybe I can help you build it."

"You provided me the screws. That's an important part of it."

Clank followed him toward the door, and a second sneeze ricocheted through the workshop. "I hope a healing talent made it. I'm not feelin' too well."

"You should get some rest. Plenty more to be done tomorrow."

"I don't even want to think, Bobble."

Bobble smiled and shook his head, watching Clank lumber toward his house. "That's a surprise."

"Wot?"

"I said...goodnight."

"Goodnight, Bobble."

Bobble giggled as he flew away. With his work done, reality seeped in and he remembered the deaths. His mirth faded quickly and he was left to feel cold and alone.

"Ach. Shouldn't have sent her out by 'erself," he muttered. "Stupid."

The Dust Depot was filled with sleeping fairies, and Bobble flew over each one, laying down on one of the few available beds. He took off his glasses and put them between the bed and the corner, then closed his eyes and started counting sheep.

"Hey." Fawn's sad laugh soon interrupted him, and he opened his eyes. "I was sleeping here."

"I'm sorry, I can move."

"No, it's okay. You're hurt; you shouldn't have to."

He sat up, putting his glasses back on. "Yeah. You can't fly, I can't walk."

She nodded sadly. "I guess we go well together."

He nodded in agreement and then they looked awkwardly at each other.

"Goodnight," she said quickly, and began stepping over the sleeping fairies' forms. She retreated into the darkness. Bobble took off his glasses and faced the wall, and started counting sheep all over again. He had gotten to twenty-three when suddenly a heavy body plopped down and almost shot him off the bed. Panicked, he stared at Clank's fuzzy face.

"Sorry. I fergot we were sleepid id the Depot."

"Clanky, you sound awful."

"Dow that's dot very dice."

Bobble's eyes went wide as he realized what was happening. "Uh, you should probably be alone tonight. In case yer sick."

"Sick?" A head emerged from the blackness, becoming a separate shadow in the moonlight. "Who's sick?"

"Fide, I'll leave. Ad be all alode. Id by dabaged hobe." Clank gave a sticky sigh as he flew through the Depot and closed the door.

Bobble covered his nose and mouth and relocated.

-x-

Silvermist walked to the edge of the stream and knelt down beside it. Even the water seemed quieter, and she thought it felt as though even nature itself was grieving for the loss of their garden fairy. Well, all of the garden fairies, but Rosetta's death was causing her the most grief. And Tinker Bell's pain was hers as well.

Silvermist looked up at the sky and gave a sad smile. Perhaps tomorrow she would get Iridessa to create a whole new star in Rosetta's name. She got to her feet and jumped onto the water, skating fearlessly over the thaw surface.

After several minutes and far away from land, Silvermist lunged onto a lily pad and collapsed onto her knees with a soft laugh. Rolling onto her back, she stared up at the distant stars and listened to the rolling waves.

It was so peaceful. Too bad the other talents couldn't enjoy the water in the same way.

Silvermist sobered as an idea suddenly occurred. She could part the water and they could dig underground. They could live below the entire ocean. No humans or sprinting thistles would ever bother them again. The mining talents could create rooms and hallways to create a house bigger than Pixie Hollow in the span of a single night.

Silvermist smiled and rolled over onto her side to get to her feet. Instead, she froze; watching Queen Clarion's lifeless body float towards her.

Silvermist numbly got to her feet and flew to Queen Clarion, grabbing her arms and attempting to lift her into the air. But she wasn't strong enough. So she sprinkled Queen Clarion with pixie dust. But the dust didn't work when it was wet.

So Silvermist manipulated the water, raising it over the lily pad and then setting Queen Clarion down on top. Unsure of how to save her or how to tell if she was still savable, Silvermist froze as she started to fly away, then flew back.

"Um...Okay. Okay, hang in there. I'm going to get help."

Silvermist zipped away as quickly as she could; dodging branches and the homes of the water fairies as she raced into the heart of Pixie Hollow. She hurtled almost straight down and hovered over the ground. "Hello? Help!"

She looked wildly around as Clank's head emerged from his house. Burnt to a crisp, it only had one and a half wall. Still, he appeared somewhat sleepy as he blinked at her. "Sil?"

"Clank! Clank, you have to follow me. I found the queen."

"I ca't go with you! I'b sick!"

"I don't care; she's running out of time." Silvermist grabbed his hand and yanked him into the air. As they flew alongside each other, they were joined by Tinker Bell.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I found the queen. But she was in the water and I don't think she was conscience."

The fairies lifted into the air to avoid the thorns and then raced toward the stream. "I also had an idea," Silvermist noted as they flew. "Remind me to tell you about it tomorrow."

"I'll do that," Tinker Bell said, her voice strained.

Silvermist sped through Springtime Square, past the Everblossom, over the water and onto the lily pad where the queen lay. As they gathered around the queen, suddenly, all at once, her skin stopped glowing. The fairies stared down as she went dark.

"No," Tinker Bell uttered. 


	10. Chapter 10

Fawn poked curiously around Pixie Hollow.

"Are you sure you heard it?" Terence asked.

"I'm positive; I know I heard it."

"Could it have been a dream?" Bobble asked.

She planted her hands on her hips. "Start looking!" she commanded, and the two sparrowmen scattered, flying quickly away from her wrath. Fawn turned and began jogging through Pixie Hollow, squeezing through the slim gap between the thorns. In the open air of unprotected land, she began running as quickly as she could, hopping over the debris. When she reached the hill, she had to kneel and sink her fingers into the dirt to claw her way up. There she stopped, peering surreptitiously over the edge to make sure the coast was clear.

Then she heaved herself over the incline and kept walking, her eyes pointed loyally to the ground as she looked for tracks.

The silence of the night was suddenly broken by the unmistakable sound of a fast-flying fairy whipping by at neck-breaking speed. Fawn spun to see the pixie dust fading. As she pressed herself against the nearest tree and hunkered in the shadows, she saw five winged figures rising from the heart of Pixie Hollow. Each of them carried a porcupine quill harpoon on their backs. Moving as one they flew away in a group.

Fawn grimaced in fear, then turned around and saw four complete strangers looking back at her. Their wings were still and their faces were unreadable. Fawn knew they were from Pixie Hollow; she recognized them, but she never knew them.

So when they began to advance on her she was a little nervous. She turned around and came face-to-face with Zarina. Fawn took a startled step back. And suddenly from behind there was a hand on her shoulder.

Fawn's scared eyes searched Zarina's for reassurance; but she couldn't tell who Zarina was anymore.

"We can't just let you leave like that," Zarina said simply, and the hand tightened on her shoulder. Her eyes traveled past Fawn's head and she nodded.

Fawn tried not to panic as they escorted her away. "I don't have time for this!"

"Will you relax?"

Fawn's efforts to escape were temporarily hindered when they rounded a corner and she saw the magnificent glowing flower. When her shock faded and her anger mounted she continued trying to push her way free.

Suddenly she was being tied to the stem of the flower. "This is for your own good, Fawn," Zarina said coldly. "If you had just trusted me..."

"Trust you!"

"You wouldn't be tied up." Zarina shrugged. "We're just going to help you."

"Yeah, right, I had a feeling you shouldn't have - " Fawn's attention was diverted by the glowing pollen that was falling onto her, and the way it made her feel. The beautiful voice that was singing an enchantment fell silent.

And, as they untied her, Fawn felt two hands running along her injured wing. Except there was no pain.

"There you go, good as new," Lyria told her.

Fawn lowered her gaze so the pixie dust that fell on her wouldn't get into her eyes, and she saw her shadow on the ground, cast by the light of the glowing flower. She could see two perfect wings.

"And take care of them this time; I don't know how many times this will work," Zarina announced. "I mean, you were kind of the first one to use it."

Fawn looked up at her as the rope fell away. "What? But, that's so dangerous."

"You're welcome," Zarina answered coolly. "No hard feelings."

Fawn's eyes narrowed.

"Maybe it works as long as it's glowing," Lyria suggested.

"Well, no, maybe not. I mean, flowers have a lifespan too, right?" one of the strangers asked.

"Lyria," Zarina said. "Come to Pixie Hollow with me and look for injured fairies. We'll bring them here."

Fawn was glaring at Zarina as she flew away.

-x-

Tinker Bell, Silvermist and Bobble had returned to Pixie Hollow and were looking hopeless when, all of a sudden, Fawn flew over the thorns and landed before them. Naturally the conversation halted.

"Fawn?" Tinker Bell asked. "How did you...Why are you..."

"Why is everyone crying?" Fawn asked, and she repressed the strange urge to wipe Bobble's cheek.

"Oh. Um," Tinker Bell answered eloquently.

"Uh, I found the queen - "

"That's fantastic!"

"But she died."

Fawn flinched at the harsh words and looked up as Zarina and her new friends flew into Pixie Hollow. She sighed at her indecision. "Tell them," she urged, nodding subtly in their direction.

Everyone looked at once in a very unsubtle way.

"They might be able to...bring her back." Fawn shrugged.

Tinker Bell had suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and was shaking her. "Can they bring back Peri and Ro? A-and Fairy Gary!"

"Ask them," Fawn said, clearly surprised.

Tinker Bell turned and ran towards Zarina and her group. As she hurriedly spoke to them, Zarina looked right at Fawn and seemed to smile before nodding to Tinker Bell.

"Do you thick this could work?" Clank asked.

"I don't know, maybe. You guys better go with them," Fawn added hastily.

Clank sighed and sniffled as he and Bobble joined Tinker Bell.

Silvermist smiled and looked at Fawn. "Things might be okay after all."

Fawn looked at her. "I hope so." 


	11. Chapter 11

So are you the ones who were yelling for help?" Fawn asked, when Clank, Tinker Bell and Bobble came walking back with Zarina and her group.

"That was me," Silvermist answered.

"Oh. Oh, good." She looked up and noticed Tinker Bell was scrutinizing her. "What's wrong, Tink?"

"Huh? Oh. You just...you look younger."

Zarina grinned. "Maybe it did work! Sil, you have got to show me where the queen is."

"Okay."

They flew away, taking Zarina's four new friends, Clank, and Bobble with her. Alone with Fawn, Tinker Bell paced nervously. "Oh, Fawn, this could be it. This could...I-I might be able to see Peri again."

Fawn gasped and then squealed. "I might be able to see Gruff again!"

Tinker Bell stared at Fawn, biting her lip and trying not to cry.

Fawn hugged her. "Good luck."

"Good luck," Tinker Bell echoed.

-x-

Silvermist led Zarina to the water lily and hovered above it, manipulating the water and carrying the lily pad quickly to shore. Zarina and her friends lifted the queen into the air and carefully deposited her into the wagon.

Zarina reached into one of the bags hanging at her waist, and covered herself in purple pixie dust. "I'll meet you there," she said mysteriously. She put two hands on the wagon and suddenly she was gone.

"Whoa!" Lyria exclaimed. "What - how did she - "

"She made fast-flying dust," Silvermist answered. "Come on. I want to see if this works!"

They began flying after Zarina. "Hang on, hold on. What do you mean she made fast-flying dust? That's never been done before."

"She's a pixie dust alchemist. She can do anything; even switch talents."

"How do you know?"

"She switched mine. And all my friends'."

"You serious?" Bobble asked.

"Yup. Let me think. I was a fast-flying fairy. Tinker Bell was a water fairy. Vidia was a tinker. Um...oh, Rosetta was an animal fairy, and Iridessa was a garden fairy."

"Wow," Clank gasped.

"She even made another pixie dust tree. It was actually pretty cool, but I was glad when she switched us all back."

"Bobble! Bobble! How great would it be if she switched be with you?" Clank asked, and then paused. "Oh. Uh, dever bide."

Bobble chuckled.

When they reached Zarina's hideout, they were gladdened to see Queen Clarion speaking in her gentle, no-nonsense manner with Zarina.

"I'm very sorry to hear about our losses," Queen Clarion was saying, "And the winter fairies' losses as well."

"But you were dead too, Queen Clarion. And I can bring them back. All of them."

Queen Clarion was shocked into silence.

Something crackled behind Zarina and she turned. One of the Scouts, Chase, stepped out of the bushes lining Pixie Hollow. "You want to bring Periwinkle back?" she asked nervously. "That...might be a challenge."

"It's a challenge I'm willing to face." Zarina looked at Clank and Bobble. "For Tinker Bell."

"For Tinker Bell," they echoed.

Queen Clarion looked at Chase. "After all we've been through, what challenge could possibly be too big for us?"

Chase gave a nervous laugh. "It's a...funny story." 


	12. Chapter 12

In the serenity of the Winter Woods, the snow was falling lazily as the frost and winter fairies gathered for Periwinkle's funeral. Lord Milori walked forth and knelt by her grave, placing Rosetta's gift, a periwinkle covered in a ball of frost, next to the tombstone that the frost fairies had carved out of ice.

"Stop the funeral!"

The Minister Of Winter looked up in shock to see Queen Clarion flying toward her, a golden beauty covered in protective frost. "Stop it now."

The winter fairies watched as Tinker Bell hurried forth and began digging the grave free.

"What is the meaning of this?" the Minister snapped.

"We can undo this," Queen Clarion answered gently. "We can right this terrible wrong and save her."

"There's a chance we can save her," Zarina stepped in quickly. "I didn't guarantee anything."

Sled turned and walked toward her, snow crunching under his shoes. Zarina withdrew as he walked right into her personal space and stared down at her. "Take all the chances," he said roughly. "And don't forget about Rosetta."

"I could never forget about Rosetta," she snapped, effectively silencing him.

Still in the hole where the casket had been, Tinker Bell pushed the casket further from the hole and looked at Zarina, summoning her to the casket. "I can't look," Tinker Bell whispered.

Zarina put her hands on the casket lid and Tinker Bell turned around and sank down, disappearing in the hole. She wrapped her arms around her knees and listened to Zarina's voice from above.

"I'll be back soon. Clank, Bobble - come with me."

Shadows passed over the gravesite and Tinker Bell closed her eyes and waited for news.

"They're gone, Tink."

Tinker Bell stood and flew out of the hole, landing beside Terence.

Fawn approached and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey. Remember my wings, and what Sil said?" she asked.

Tinker Bell nodded and Fawn smiled confidently, even though inside she was shaking with the fear of failure.

-x-

Tinker Bell was roused from her sleep by the tingling sensation of her wings being frosted. She looked up at Lord Milori and tried to smile. Her eyes were dark with worry and she looked exhausted.

"It's been too long," she murmured. "Something's not right."

"Worrying won't help. Rest." He stood and walked through the mixture of warm fairies and winter fairies.

Tinker Bell closed her eyes and tried to focus on Fiona's hypnotic purring. Sometime later she heard soft voices.

"It's been awhile."

"I know it has."

"Gosh, you know, I don't think I'll ever forget the sight of Periwinkle..."

Tinker Bell lifted her head and saw Fawn grimace apologetically before mouthing sorry.' Tinker Bell nodded and looked up at the sky where dawn was beginning to break. She turned her eyes to the waiting casket, still open.

A whistle from the border had the Winter Scouts reaching for their weapons before their eyes were open. They began moving quickly to the border but quickly halted.

Cheers and applause awakened all of the fairies. Tinker Bell scrambled to her feet and stared in happy amazement as Clank, Bobble, Zarina and her friends escorted Periwinkle, Rosetta, Fairy Gary, and Fairy Mary through winter. A frost fairy flew above them, having frosted the warm fairies' wings.

"Periwinkle!" Tinker Bell sobbed, and she scrambled to her feet and ran to her sister.

Sled kissed and hugged Rosetta. "I missed you."

"Ah missed you more, mah Arctic fox," she giggled.

Tinker Bell pulled away from her sister and looked at the other recently revived fairies. "It's good beyond words to see you all."

"What happened to our home?" Fairy Gary asked.

"The sprinting thistles came through with some humans," Nyx reported. "But the Winter Scouts have agreed to help us rebuild."

"Well, let's sleep on it," Fairy Mary cut in. "I think we're all feeling the same way?"

The winter fairies and warm fairies climbed tiredly to their feet and parted ways amidst much affection.

"When we do start rebuilding, we should do the beds and kitchen first," Fairy Mary observed. "Tonight, I really don't care where I sleep."

Zarina smiled and looked at Clank. "So Clank, how do you feel?"

"Oh, amazing! Thank you very much."

"Always happy to help."

Fawn looked at Zarina and smiled. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

Zarina smiled and nodded at her, and Fairy Gary began frowning when the ring of thorns came into view. "What's up with that?"

"Rosetta, dear," Fairy Mary added, "Did you grow them?"

"No, see, Ah don't work with thorns. They creep me out."

"Well, that, uh, only leaves one garden fairy," Fairy Gary answered, and all eyes went to Zarina. She looked up at him.

"Yes, I grew them."

"Because I asked her to," Nyx stepped in.

"And why is that?" Queen Clarion prodded.

"It's for further protection from the sprinting thistles. And I propose we install a watch tower in Needlepoint Meadow..."

Tinker Bell detached from the crowd to join her friends.

"It's so good to have you back, Ro," Iridessa was sniffling.

Rosetta started frowning. "Where was Ah?"

"Uh, dead," Iridessa answered timidly.

"Dead?" Rosetta's eyes went wide. "And were you gonna put me in the ground like Peri? Just cover me up with dirt and slugs and stuff?"

"What else could we have done?" Tinker Bell asked.

"Yeah, there's nothing wrong with the ground." Silvermist bent and cupped it in her hands. "No, really, it even smells nice. It's got like an...an earthy smell." She held it out to Rosetta, who stumbled backward.

"Well, thankfully Ah'll never have to deal with death. Never!" Rosetta turned and zipped over the thorns, heading toward her neighborhood. 


	13. Chapter 13

Pixie Hollow looked much different in the daylight now that it was surrounded by thorns. Shafts of daylight barely poked their way through, illuminating small and scattered areas. Everybody's wings were glowing as Pixie Hollow was filled with the sound of construction. Tinker Bell was walking around with her shiner, lending its light to anyone who needed it; a big smile on her face.

Fairy Gary observed her. "That's, uh, quite a nifty little gadget you got there. Think you can tinker some more?"

"Yeah. I do." She looked up at the walls blocking out the sunlight. "Looks like I'll need to."

He nodded and walked away.

"A little higher, Tink. No, that's too high. Perfect," Terence said. "Keep it steady, keep it steady..." Soon he grinned and stood up. "Thanks. I think I got a whole scoop of dust out of there."

"You're the best, Terence," Tinker Bell answered, as she flitted away. She came across Bobble, who was sitting on the ground. "Hey, Bobble. Need some light?"

"Ah, thanks, Miss Bell. That would be splendid."

"What are you..." She knelt in front of him, shining her light into the hole he had dug. "Are you building a cellar?"

"Indeed. Perhaps I should have tried to duplicate the result of your illuminater."

"Fairy Gary wants us to. I told him we'd try."

"Sounds like a plan." Bobble lifted the cellar door he had built, placed it over the hole, and began to install it; and Tinker Bell sat across from him, shone her light and tried to be useful. Eventually the helpful beam of light began wandering, and Bobble looked up to see Tinker Bell totally distracted, staring over his shoulder. He turned around and watched as Sweet Pea, Marina and Scribble walked through the thorns.

Bobble was smiling as he turned back to his project and adjusted Tinker Bell's hands to refocus the light where he needed it. She looked quickly at him. "Oh. Sorry."

She continued to sit there, listening attentively when Nyx's stern voice floated to her. "There are still hundreds of us missing, and that's if they're lucky. Our search is nowhere near over."

"I never argued that, Nyx, but there are only five of us."

"And we've looked everywhere," a third Scout added. "They're probably held up somewhere else."

The Scouts walked by, lost in conversation, and Tinker Bell shared a sneaky look with Bobble.

An animalistic howl on the other side of the thorns scared every fairy to their feet. Suddenly Cheese ran into Pixie Hollow, squeezing through the slim gap between the thorns and narrowly avoiding getting cut. Fiona's hungry feline face slammed into the gap and she snarled and hissed at his retreating shadow.

"Easy, Fiona," Dewey's voice said. "Just calm down."

Tinker Bell smiled at Periwinkle as the winter fairies came walking into Pixie Hollow, then looked up and watched as Lucinda and Slate worked together to repair Tinker Bell's door.

"Now there's more than five," Nyx announced as the Winter Scouts began filing in.

"Alright, Miss Bell, that's it. Thanks for the light!"

"No problem." She stood and pulled him to his feet. "There, how's that?"

"Never better. You know, I've been takin' me legs for granted. Think I'll start jogging when we're all settled."

She smiled sweetly at him. "Sounds like a plan," she echoed.

Bobble watched her walk through Pixie Hollow, offering her light to a total stranger. It was Queen Clarion's laughter that got his attention, and he looked up to see her flying over Pixie Hollow, Lord Milori flying alongside her.

Bobble grinned and tested the cellar door, then flew carefully into the hole and disappeared belowground. His hand reached up and closed the cellar door. Seconds later he opened the door and crawled out.

"How is it?" Silvermist asked, startling him. He turned around.

"Oh, it looks very good. It could probably fit seven of us if we needed to hide."

"Only seven? What were you building it for?"

"Storage. For dust, lost things, what have you."

"Hm. Well, what if it fit all of us?"

"Oh, gee, that would require a lot of building. It would take me years."

"Not if a mining talent did it."

Bobble studied her. "What are you getting at, Silver?"

She smiled at him. "I had an idea."

"Well, they do say there's a first for everything."

She looked confused. "I don't get it."

"Never mind. Sorry to interrupt; what were you saying?"

"I said I had an idea." She blinked at him.

"And your idea is..."

"We could live underground. The mining talents could make a huge house bigger than Pixie Hollow...in minutes. And we would be safe, from humans, thistles, animals..."

He was nodding thoughtfully as he collected his tools.

"I mean, if Zarina can make a pixie dust tree, why shouldn't we do this? It would save us months of restoring Pixie Hollow. Maybe years."

"You have an interesting point there, Silver. You should discuss it with the Queen and Ministers." He walked away.

"Hey, Sil!" Iridessa called, and Silvermist flew to her. "Could you help me hand these out?" Iridessa asked, and pointed to a wagon, on which were balls of sunshine wrapped in leaves, creating things that resembled Tinker Bell's shiner.

"Sure." Silvermist gathered half of them and flew awkwardly along, handing out the crafts. "Shiny beam, Slate? Lucinda? Shiny beam?"

"Thanks, Sil."

Clank observed the activity for a moment longer before flying slowly toward the heart of Pixie Hollow, in which the rest of the tinkers were restoring the cafeteria. He flew up to them and landed. "Can I help you?"

"Of course."

They got to work.

-x-

Rosetta and Sweet Pea were staring intently at the glowing flower.

"Amazing, right?" Zarina asked happily.

"Who on earth grew this thang?" Rosetta twanged.

"I did!" Zarina laughed. "But I need an expert garden fairy's opinion. How long do you think it will live?"

"Well, that depends. How did you make it?"

"From scratch."

"Then mah guess is forever."

Sweet Pea touched the flower, which felt warmer and firmer than most. "I agree."

"Good." Zarina gave a lopsided, impish grin. "I was hoping to hear that!"

"So was Fawn," Sweet Pea answered, and they walked away together discussing the uncertain future. Alone with the mysterious flower, Rosetta lifted into the air and hovered above its softly glowing head.

Looking around for an unwanted audience, she flew closer and sank her hands into the luminous center, breaking off a single seed. Imbued with sunlight, it glowed in her hands. With a soft laugh, she broke off another seed and landed on the grass, tucking one of the seeds into her shoes. Then, proudly displaying the second seed in her hands, she flew over the thorns and landed in Pixie Hollow.

"Ah had a strange thought," Rosetta began as she walked up to Zarina. "And Ah hope you don't mind what Ah did, but Ah took a seed from yer magic blossom. Sugar, it shoulda been planted inside the thorns! The one outside's at risk."

Zarina's shoulders slumped. "Mm, good point."

"So yer not mad at me?"

"Uh-uh."

"Good! Ah hope this one works, too. How bout we grow it right beside the pool?"

"Mm, I don't think that's a good place for it. If someone's seriously hurt, they might run out of time before they get there. And if all the nature talents are at the Mainland and all the tinkers are on their deliveries, who's going to be around?"

Rosetta turned and looked at the slim gap between the thorns. "Well, what about right here?"

"I think that would be best."

As Rosetta knelt and dug the hole, Silvermist walked by with a bucket of water and a sponge. She stopped and watched Rosetta plant and bury the seed and then Silvermist watered the plant for her.

"Oh, thanks, Sil."

"No, thank you! I have something to show you. Stop by Tink's house later, okay?" Silvermist walked away.

Rosetta sprinkled the planted seed with pixie dust and it sprang into the air, glowing softly. "It looks good if Ah do say so mahself."

"I can hardly wait for the next injury!" Zarina said, and then paused. "I mean the next small one."

Rosetta giggled and touched the flower. It felt no different than the one on the other side of the thorns, and she was smiling as she walked away, a spring in her step. "Wow, the kitchen's startin' to really look good!"

The tinkers smiled at her.

"You fellas need any help?" Rosetta asked.

"Uh, we're basically doing the gross stuff right now," Lucinda told her. "You might be more productive if you helped Sweet Pea; she's regrowing all the plants."

"Thank you!" Rosetta waved cutely and flew off.

"Well, I'll help you," Zarina said with a shrug, and she covered herself in green pixie dust. "Just give me one second and I'll be as tinkerish as you."

The tinkers grinned at her as she knelt in the disgusting combination of mud and ash. "Hey, I was supposed to give Avery a new talent. Have you seen her?"

"Oh, Z, you haven't heard? She was killed."

Zarina looked up with raised brows. Abruptly, she stood. "Excuse me just a moment." She quickly scanned the village and began flying toward Nyx. 


	14. Chapter 14

Within the hour the scarce light that came through the thorns was gone, and the only light came from Tinker Bell's shiner and Iridessa's crafts.

Tinker Bell sighed, feeling exhaustion pull at her. Bathed in the moonlight that shone into her roofless house, she sat on the floor as she worked on repairing one of the two walls she had lost. She had very little privacy, and no protection from the rain. Hopefully no more would fall; those missing walls were the only reason her house hadn't flooded.

She could see the fairies down below as they worked all through the night, carrying either one of Iridessa's many lights or Tinker Bell's one-of-a-kind. A lot of fairies walked in pairs; one fairy holding debris, lost things or tools, while the other fairy lit the way. Voices floated to Tinker Bell's ears on the wind.

She poured glue onto the chunk of wall and slid it carefully into the hole, aligning it slowly and perfectly with the rest of the wall, turning her eyes to the huge break in front of her when a Scout's shrill whistle pierced the air, faintly echoed in the distance. The Scouts flew past her house. At the same instant, a shadow fell on her.

"I need to talk to you."

Tinker Bell paused at Queen Clarion's non-negotiable and undeniably disappointed voice. As she climbed to her feet to respectfully curtsy, Zarina swooped up and hovered beside the queen. "Tinker Bell, we need to talk," she said, sounding upset.

"Is anything the matter?" the queen asked.

"Yes."

"Queen Clarion wants to speak to me, too," Tinker Bell pointed out, and Zarina gave Tinker Bell a rather dark look before flitting away. Alone with the queen, Tinker Bell turned her eyes to the queen's somber gaze. "So...what's wrong?"

The queen sighed, her eyes narrowing with a disappointment that had Tinker Bell's stomach clenching. "Is it true you attacked Vidia?"

Tinker Bell opened her mouth, but no words came. She shrugged and fought for her voice. "I did, but...it was only because she wouldn't leave when I asked her to."

"From what I hear, you never asked." Queen Clarion gave a subtle shake of her head. "I am very disappointed in you."

"Me too, Queen Clarion. I'll make it right. At least, I'll try," she added in a mumble.

Queen Clarion did not look entirely satisfied as she flew away. Her absence was quickly filled by Zarina. "So, are you in much trouble?"

"I think I'll survive."

"Good. Because I've got a bone to pick with you."

"I'm sorry?"

"How could you not tell me Avery was dead? You know I can bring her back!"

"No. I don't know. And you shouldn't be so sure."

Zarina scoffed. "Are you kidding? Look at what I've done so far. Rosetta, Periwinkle, the queen, Lord Milori, Fairy Gary. Without me, we would be swamped with funerals right now."

"I know. And I'm grateful. But maybe it's just...luck."

Zarina scoffed again, shaking her head. "Even after all this time, you have no idea what I can do," she mused, and flew away. Alone, Tinker Bell gave a sigh of unease and continued working.

-x-

"Sil, you wanted to see me?" Rosetta asked.

"Yes. I wanted to show you this strange seed I found." Silvermist held it out to her, and Rosetta stared down at it briefly.

"That's a moldy watermelon seed."

Silvermist dropped it like it was poison. "Okay, well, that's gross."

"Yep. Nothin' like the smell of mold in the morning," Rosetta sighed, and stepped over the seed as they walked together through the construction of Pixie Hollow. As they meandered through the village, she saw a certain tinker walking through the gap. "Oh, goodness, look!"

Silvermist followed her gaze and smiled, waving big. "Hey, Tabby!"

"Hello!" she called back. "Great seeing you!" She turned her attention back to the thorns, viewing it as she walked like it was a magnificent artistic creation. Then she saw the flower and halted, looking curiously around before flying to Rosetta and Silvermist, looking quizzically at them. "What is that?" she asked, nodding in the general direction of the flower behind her.

"It's a magic flower'a some sort. Actually, Ah hardly know anythin' about it; you'll have to talk to Zarina."

"Zarina's long gone. I saw her flying out with Vidia."

"Oh. Well, what Ah do know is, if you sing some kind of song it'll heal you or bring you back from the dead."

Silvermist clasped her hands together and nodded cordially. "It's true."

"Tabby, have you heard anythang from Avery's friends? Morgan, Rush, and...um..."

"Gail," Tabby provided. "Nope, nothing at all."

Rosetta sighed as Tabby walked away. "Well, ain't that a wheelbarrow full."

"Aw, cheer up, Ro. We should be thankful! Look at everything we got back." Silvermist looked happily at the fairies working hard to repair their village.

"Imagine how much more we could achieve if you were pitching in," Nyx commented as she walked by with an armful of supplies. She joined Scribble, whose look of longing went unnoticed as she deposited the supplies on the table.

Rosetta's sigh became her words. "Ah think Ah'm gonna make flowers all over the place, try to counteract all those ugly thorns. Ah'll see you, Sil."

"Later." Silvermist watched Rosetta fly away and her attention was easily diverted by a distant, repetitive thud. She followed her ears to the animal fairy's neighborhood, where Fawn was attempting to rebuild her bookcase. Face twisted with concentration, she lifted the hammer again and banged it into the bookcase - with excessive force, gasping as the hammer smashed through the wood and caused an explosion of splinters and dust.

"Who am I kidding?" Fawn moaned, tossing the hammer aside. "I'm not a tinker." She got to her feet. They watched Sweet Pea fly around the perimeter, examining the thorns for signs of overgrowth.

"Tabby just got here."

"Oh! Good." Fawn's bright smile soon faded and she tilted her head. "Who's that?"

-x-

Outside, in the open air and under the early sun, Vidia was still waiting for her eyes to adjust to the brightness as she looked around for the dead, the missing and the injured. Behind her, she could hear the distant whooshing sounds as Zarina sped back and forth, searching in the east and west.

Unwilling to risk overlooking someone, Vidia was slow as she flew forward. "Is anyone out here?" she called, and listened for a voice or the softest jingle. But all she could hear was the flapping of her wings. And then, overhead, the cry of a hawk.

Zarina was just ahead of her as she hurried into the safety of the thorns that covered Pixie Hollow. Vidia landed and peered between the gap, watching the hawk circle, eyeing the thorn bushes.

She breathed a sigh of relief when it flew away, and stepped out from the security of the thorns. As she walked away, she looked over her shoulder to see Zarina following her; and again they parted ways. Alone, Vidia pushed her way into the tall grass.

It took her awhile to stumble across the evidence of a fairy's hideout, arranged cutely inside of a log. The camp was abandoned, so Vidia sat down to wait. And she waited for hours, eventually deciding to check back later. She exited the log and returned to Pixie Hollow.

"There you are!" Fawn said, walking toward her. "We were just about to go looking for you."

"Where did you run off to?" Iridessa added.

"I was looking for people. With Zarina."

"Zarina's been here for like two hours," Fawn answered.

"Thanks for the update." Vidia walked past them toward Nyx, to whom she bluntly said, "I found a hideout north of here. In a log. No one showed."

"Thanks, Vidia. We'll keep an eye on it."

"You don't have to; that's where I was staying," Marina informed her.

Vidia walked away, disappointed and humiliated. 


	15. Chapter 15

Rosetta looked around the Depot at all the beds on the floor. "Yeah, Ah don't think Ah'm too comfortable with this."

"Unless you're suddenly not too vain to sleep in the dirt, you really have no choice," Rumble answered as he walked by.

Rosetta ignored him, turning around and leaving the Depot. Walking through the thorns, she flew into the air and headed purposefully to Springtime Square, searching for a nice flower to sleep on. She was distracted by the sight of Silvermist, kneeling on a lily pad and looking up at her. The thought of sleeping under the stars, listening to the waves greatly appealed to Rosetta, and she flew down to join her friend on the water.

"Why are you out here?" Rosetta asked.

"There are too many people in the Depot," Silvermist answered. "And it's nice out here."

"Yep, think I'm gonna sleep right here," Rosetta answered, and Silvermist looked around.

"Hey, that's a good idea!" Silvermist exclaimed, and lay down flat on her back. "Looks like it's going to be a nice night." She smiled as the clouds uncovered the moon, and then looked over at Rosetta. "You know, before I knew about the magic flower, I was going to get Iridessa to make a star and call it Rosetta."

"Oh, sugar, I'da loved that."

"Peri, Fairy Gary," Silvermist continued, and sighed. "Everyone else."

Rosetta frowned prettily at her unsettling words. "Zarina will bring 'em all back. You know that."

"No. It's just what I'm hoping for."

They looked up at the sky, listening to the gentle waves and the lonely hoots of an owl. Silvermist sighed and began twirling the hair that was always over her shoulder. "I'm not sure the flower has enough life to help them all."

"Another reason I planted the second one," Rosetta answered, and felt a twinge of shame about the third seed she was keeping to herself. "An' I think we should save the one inside for when that first one is dead or somethin'. Just not use it, you know, save its...energy, or whatever you call it."

Silvermist's brows went up. "I thought for sure you'd know what to call it."

They looked on in silence for several seconds. "Oh, look at that," Rosetta soon said, as a comet streaked past. "Gorgeous."

Silvermist sighed, entwining her fingers across her stomach. "There are a lot of us still gone. I think we should grow like a...a forest of those flowers. Like a whole bunch of them."

"Two is a good start. Right now we're kind of busy as it is. Tomorrow's a full day."

"Hopefully it doesn't drag out like today," Silvermist muttered. "We should probably get some sleep."

Rosetta didn't respond, and Silvermist looked over to see her frowning prettily again. "What's wrong?"

"Ah'm just thinkin' about the...hawk."

Silvermist got decisively to her feet. "You had to go and say that," she sighed, and offered Rosetta her hand. She helped her to her feet and they flew slowly back toward Pixie Hollow.

-x-

The following day, twenty-nine fairies assembled in the air, hovering high out of harm's way on the outskirts of Pixie Hollow. Fifty-eight wings beat the air as they discussed the method of their search party; and having reached an agreement they parted ways, multiple fairies covering every direction. Even the Scouts split up, to spread their forces and better assist those in need.

"I had a brainstorm last night," Zarina told Tinker Bell as they flew alongside. "Everybody should become a tinker!"

"Hey. That's a terrific idea," she answered.

"It is," Nyx cut in. "It'll definitely save us some time. More time we can spend looking."

"We shouldn't be taking breaks," Iridessa responded. "It's more important than rebuilding Pixie Hollow."

"We live in Pixie Hollow," Nyx argued.

"No. We _are_ Pixie Hollow. We're a community, and we're putting construction before lives. And the thorns, by the way, were a bad idea. It slows us down. It's going to slow you down."

"Between the sprinting thistles and the hawks, I'm liking all this added security," Nyx answered. "But caring about people is part of my job."

"I care about people, too, Nyx. But why now? Why distract ourselves when we need to focus?"

"I am focused."

Tinker Bell rolled her eyes. "Am I the only one looking for tracks?"

Nyx spared a brief look at Lumina, Rumble, and an unfamiliar fairy who followed them. They returned her authoritative gaze with unimpressed looks; clearly siding with Iridessa. She gave Iridessa a fleeting glance and looked at the ground. "There are thirty-one of us. And we're all doing the same thing. That flower can resurrect the dead and heal the injured; we can spare a few of us to rebuild. They're going to need beds, and they're going to need food. So will we."

"The fewer of us look, the longer it'll take to get them to the flower! And in that time, anything can happen. They can be kidnapped, eaten, crushed, trampled..." Iridessa's words ran out when she realized that all the fairies had stopped moving and were staring at her. "Well, it's true."

Nyx was silent as she flew forth with a dark look on her face. A pouting Tinker Bell flew after her. Alone with Rumble, Lumina and the unfamiliar fairies, Iridessa turned to face them. "It's true, right?"

They nodded and, as a group, they followed Nyx and Tinker Bell.


	16. Chapter 16

Her footsteps were decorated with pixie dust as she ran back to the remains of Pixie Hollow; her broken wings flapping behind her like a cape. For a moment Glimmer paused, her trembling wet hands trying unsuccessfully to retie her sloppy ponytail as her frantic green eyes scanned the hinterlands for danger and help. She was covered in dirt and dust, and her breathing was labored as she pulled her hair free and let it cascade down her shoulders.

Shadows passed over her and she looked up to see Clank, Rosetta, Scribble and a Scout flying overhead. She put two fingers in her mouth and gave a shrill whistle, and then made a face and noise of disgust at the taste of her fingers.

Above the plants, the fairies retraced their path and located Glimmer, flying eagerly down to meet her. "Ohmigosh Ah missed you!" Rosetta said in one breath, as she flew into Glimmer's arms. "An' don't you worry, sugar cane; your wings can be fixed. Go to Pixie Hollow an' talk to Lyria, she'll help you."

"Ro," Glimmer said loudly, attracting the fairies back to her. "We've got a problem."

"Oh, what now?" Clank asked.

"There's a new fairy. But she went off-course and ended up in the human neighborhood. She's convinced she's not a fairy."

"Why would she think that?"

"She's never seen her wings. Of course she's never tried to fly, and she's been..." Glimmer shifted nervously. "She's been calling me a freak and a mutant."

"I'll take care of her," Fury answered. "Just tell me where she's at."

"She's in Cherryblossom Hills - "

Fury flew away without another word, and Glimmer anxiously watched her go.

Rosetta came up behind Glimmer, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Go, talk to Lyria. Ah promise she can help."

"Thanks, Ro." Glimmer smiled sadly as she started walking backwards. "I'm so glad to see all of you."

Then she turned and began running. Rosetta turned and flew back up to where Scribble and Clank waited. "One more down, several hundred and somethin' more to go."

The sparrowmen sighed, sounding defeated, as they followed her back in the direction they had been going.

"Maybe in three years, we'll have actually made a dent," Clank grumbled.

"Oh, don't be that way. We should be happy," Rosetta answered, emptily repeating Silver-mist's devoted words. "Look at what we got back. An' we'll rebuild an' it'll be just like before."

Clank was quiet as he sadly looked for tracks.

-x-

It wasn't hard to overlook the new fairy. She was the only one in Cherryblossom Hills, and she wore the white dandelion dress. What appeared to be a flower stem was woven helically around her brown hair, which was almost as long as she was.

Fury angled down and landed soundlessly on her feet, walking after the fairy. "Excuse me."

The fairy turned and studied her with silver-blue eyes. "Great," was how she greeted the Scout. "It's raining freaks."

"I do have a response for that, but I'll curb it. You should come with me."

"Excuse me, you're a stranger."

"I know. But Glimmer..."

"Ah." The fairy sat on a rock, nodding her head. "Glimmer sent you."

"No. She spoke of you, mentioned this place. I decided to see you. Listen to me, I'm a Scout fairy. And you're...You're a fairy, too, but we don't know what kind. We've got to find out your talent. And perhaps you can help us."

"Help you with what?"

"Our town, your town, was destroyed. And..."

"My town is just fine." The fairy stood and walked to the edge of Spring Valley, motioning to the human houses in the distance. "See?"

"That's not your town."

"Not yet. It will be, once I figure out how to pay my landlord."

"What?" Fury roughly spun her around. "You spoke to them?"

"Not yet - "

Fury grabbed her by the shoulders and began pushing her to Pixie Hollow. "Come with me, now!"

"Alright, don't push." The fairy slapped her away. "And don't walk behind me; you're creepin' me out."

Fury sighed, but fell in step beside her. "Listen, we're going to my town now. I'm going to in-troduce you to the queen. She'll help you."

"I don't need help."

"Yes you do. You're a delusional madcap; you have zero conscience of the repercussions of what you were about to do!"

"Then why don't you tell me?"

"You were going to destroy us."

"I don't even know what you are. You have got to be playing a joke on me."

Fury looked at her. "Haven't you noticed something about yourself?" She stopped walking, and the fairy turned to face her.

"Like what?"

"Like how small you are." Fury scammed the ground and picked up a leaf, stretching it out beside the fairy. She was just slightly bigger than it was. "See? No human is as small as we are. Not even little people."

The fairy put one hand on her hip. "And?"

Fury threw the leaf down. "You really don't get it. Fine, just come with me and we'll prove it to you."

"Whatever." The fairy walked after her.

"For the record, if I'm a freak, so are you. We're the same. The only difference is, I'm in the right frame of mind." Fury looked at her. "Soon you will be too."

The fairy gave her a doubtful look. "I doubt we have anything in common."

"You'll see."

Together they walked all the way from Cherryblossom Hill to Pixie Hollow, where only Queen Clarion and Lyria remained; waiting for the arrival of a search party bringing home whoever they found.

When Fury escorted the brand new face into Pixie Hollow, trundling after her through the gap in the zareba with her wings closed to protect them from the scratching thorns, the queen and Lyria jumped to attention; looking at her in open wonder.

"Queen Clarion. I present to you name unknown, talent unknown. Special case. She thinks she's a human." Fury slapped her hand onto the stranger's shoulder. "And she was going to rent a human house."

"Oh, goodness. You can't do that, dear. Come along and we'll find your talent. Here is where you belong."

The fairy looked morbidly confused as she followed the beautiful golden fairy, drawn by her gentle kindness.

"You must have been drawn off course, without a fast-flying talent to guide you."

"Um...sure."

Queen Clarion laughed softly. "I feel so unprepared for this. We always have a ceremony for a new arrival, but I'm afraid you came at a bad time."

"Yeah, I can see." The fairy then realized what she was saying and looked at her. "So, I would have been given a ceremony too?"

"Indeed. But given the circumstances, I can only do my best. I must ask you to be patient while I collect all the materials." Queen Clarion then observed the fairy's drooping, lifeless wings. "We must fly to access the talent branch."

The newcomer was trying to process the jiibberish she was speaking when Queen Clarion moved behind her, and the fairy looked over her shoulder at the tingly sensation that suddenly ran across her back. She bent slightly backwards to get a better look at her wings, which suddenly lifted into glorious life.

"There you are, little one. Let me help you test them."

The fairy flapped her wings before taking the queen's illuminated hand, and Queen Clarion helped her fly, up at first, and then in an easy circle; and then, like a parent teaching their child how to ride a bike, she let go of her hand and watched her fly alone.

Hovering in the air, the fairy looked down at her. "What's stopping me from leaving?" she called down. "And going to my real home?"

Queen Clarion gave her a stern look before flying up to meet her eyes. "This is your real home. Right now, you have no name. At all. Your name is not something you choose. It is given to you, by me. It's part of the ceremony. You certainly can't rent a human house without a name."

"What's your name?"

"I am Queen Clarion."

The fairy gave a lopsided smile of scorn. "So you've given everyone their names," she said, and Queen Clarion nodded gently. "So you're like...their mother?"

"No. I am not a mother. But they are the children of my heart." Queen Clarion's undying kindness was making it very hard for the newcomer to be angry. "I am sorry you don't know your potential, but you will learn. If you choose to."

The fairy stared at her, wanting nothing more than to yell at her to let her just live her own life the way she saw fit. But she couldn't. It didn't seem so much like a lame joke anymore; Queen Clarion sure seemed to believe it.

The newcomer sighed and looked around the empty, quiet tree. "How does this talent thing work?"

"I must gather the required things. Please wait here. If you leave while I'm gone, it is not just a waste of my time. It is a waste of your time, and it's a waste of your talent."

Queen Clarion turned and flew away; and feeling the weight of her words, the newcomer sat on the nearest mushroom and waited.

Queen Clarion returned and disappeared several times. With each return she put something new onto a different mushroom. Soon the only mushroom that did not have a talent object on it was the mushroom upon which the newcomer sat.  
"We can begin," the queen said, sounding sad. "There would normally be a drop of water among these things, but I would never be able to bring it here. The only water fairy we've found is away right now. But it will work out. If none of these tools react to your touch, you are a water fairy."

The fairy nodded cordially and stood up. "Wait, react? They can react?"

"Yes. And your name will have some connection to your talent."

"Really? What's Glimmer's talent?"

"She is a storm fairy. More precisely, she can cause and manipulate lightning."

The fairy looked at her in disbelief before walking into the ring of mushrooms. "I find that hard to believe."

"If you stay here, I promise you'll get used to it. All of it."

The fairy shrugged her shoulders and reached out to touch the flower seed placed atop the mushroom. Before she could even touch it, the seed exploded in light; and the glow took on the shape of a flower. When the light faded, a rose was left in its wake.  
The queen smiled calmly. "You are a garden fairy. Welcome to the world. Your name shall be...Willow."

Willow shrugged again. "Okay. Well, um, thank you?"

The queen nodded at her as she floated toward the mushrooms. "Would you be a dear and help me return the talent tools to storage?"

"Oh. Sure."

The queen began lifted the rose, and Willow began walking toward the tinkers' hammer. Suddenly it began to glow, and when it lifted into the air Willow knew she wasn't hallucinating. "Um, Queen Clarion!"

Queen Clarion turned and froze, watching the hammer float toward Willow.

"Is this supposed to be happening?" Willow asked.

"No. It's not." Queen Clarion flew slowly closer. "This must be some mistake."

Willow reached out and grasped the hammer, which became heavier as it lost whatever was making it float. It glowed a moment longer before going dark.

The queen's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Hm. Try bending the light."

"Excuse me?"

The queen turned to face the sunlight that shone through the tree branches. "Reach into the sunlight. And try to pick it up."

Willow put the hammer back onto its mushroom and walked hesitantly to the shafts of light. She reached in and curled her hands, and the beam of light on her hands suddenly felt solid. She extracted her hands, and the sight of the ball of sunlight in her palms made both fairies gasp.

"Is that a mistake?" Willow asked breathlessly.

"I don't know anymore." The queen looked at Willow in open wonder. "Follow me, please."

Willow complied, following the queen to the nearest body of water. Queen Clarion turned to face her and motioned gracefully to the water. "You know what to do."

Willow walked to the water, clapping the light off her hands before she knelt at the shore. Reaching into the water, she cupped her hands and pulled out a perfect drop of water, which sat perfectly still in her hands like a globe.

"I believe I misspoke," the queen announced, her voice hushed. "You are not a garden fairy. You appear to be multi-talented, something...something I did not think was possible."

Willow looked up at her.  
"So I would like to rename you." The queen offered her hand, helping the newcomer to her feet. "From now on, your name is..." She paused, thinking it over. "Omni."

Omni looked down at the perfect ball of water that sat in her hands, showing no sign of dripping or bursting. Then she knelt and put the droplet on the surface of the water, and poked it with a finger. It finally shattered, raining into the water.

"Amazing," she whispered. 


	17. Chapter 17

The next three days were pretty uneventful. The search parties continued to come home with nothing to show for their labors. Even further into the week the search parties began to dwindle, and the cleanup crew began to increase. Even the happiest fairies were depressed by what seemed to be an irrepairable loss. Not even the anomaly that was Omni could provide the briefest interlude from their grief; although Omni was willing to admit that she alone was the freak.

With every single fairy taking on the talent of the tinkers, construction took a quantum leap forward. The houses were almost complete and every fairy and sparrowman had been sleeping in their own beds for two nights. The kitchen and cafeteria were fully restored.

It was the fifth evening since the incident, and a very tired serving crew had prepared a full meal. Its aroma was filling the hall as Tinker Bell walked with Clank and Bobble toward the cafeteria.

"I'm tellin' ye, Clanky, the moisture from the sea is goin' to make em rot," Bobble was saying.

Clank nodded in agreement and paused at the doors. "Oh, it smells good," he announced as he lumbered into the room. As always, fairies sat in groups of their talent. Rosetta sat with Sweet Pea; Terence sat with Fairy Gary, Iridessa sat with Lumina, Silvermist sat with Marina, the Scouts shared a table; and far across the room Fairy Mary, Slate, Tabby, and Lucinda were expecting Clank, Bobble and Tinker Bell to join them.

Tinker Bell tried to overlook all the empty tables as she searched for Fawn, finally spotting her sitting with Zarina. Well, she could be an animal fairy, she mused, as she grabbed her tray from the counter.

"Come on, Miss Bell, it smells fantastic," Bobble sat, as he walked after Clank.

"Right behind you, Bobble!" she answered perkily. They walked past the wall to their right side, revealing several more tables. Fairy Gary and Terence kept glancing in the same direction, looking uncomfortable. Tinker Bell followed their eyes to the far left side of the room and immediately wished she hadn't. Surrounded by empty tables Vidia sat all by herself, the only fairy in a huge part of the cafeteria, her back turned antisocially to everyone else.

"In a minute," Tinker Bell amended, and she carried her empty tray with her to Vidia's table. The fairies watched her as she broke tradition, heading toward a table where no other tinkers were sitting. Vidia's head lifted slightly as Tinker Bell approached.

She put her tray down and climbed over the bench, sitting down beside Vidia. Looking over at her she was shocked to see Vidia wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Hey. I haven't seen you in awhile; I've been trying to find you."

Vidia was totally quiet, staring down at her untouched food.

"Okay, I know you're mad at me. But I think we need to talk."

"I don't want to talk."

"Let me rephrase that. I want to apologize."

"Fine. You're sorry. It doesn't change the fact that all my friends are..." She looked around the quiet cafeteria and shook her head. "Lost," she finally whispered.

Tinker Bell put her hand on Vidia's shoulder. "You're not alone," she echoed, and Vidia looked at her. Then she lay a hand atop Tinker Bell's and they sat in silence.

"Then why do I feel like it?" Vidia finally whispered.

"Well...I'm here. I'll eat with you."

"I don't feel like eating, I'm not hungry; I need...I need to search." Vidia stood up and Tinker Bell saw how her hands shook. "I need to search," she muttered, and walked quickly from the room wiping her eyes. The door clicked quietly shut behind her.

Tinker Bell groaned as she picked up Vidia's tray and put it atop her own. Then she got off the bench and carried both trays to the tinkers' table.

"Is she alright?" Bobble asked.

"No. But I think she forgives me."

"Wot did you do this time?" Fairy Mary demanded.

Tinker Bell smiled sheepishly. "The important thing is, she forgives me."

"Oh, really, Tinker Bell," Fairy Mary replied. "How you manage to get into so much trouble in such short time." She shook her head and heaved a sigh. "I have missed you."

Tinker Bell's smile warmed. "I missed you too."

The moment of comradely silence was quickly broken by the familiar sound of tinkery babble. "Well, I do believe Silver was right about one thing," Bobble announced. "The cellar is a tad small. I was thinking I could double its size, but I would like to solidify and insulate the inside. But I'm running low on some of the materials. Specifically, everything."

"I'll help you," Clank said immediately.

"Great. And I thought it would behoove us if we could build shelving, but I would need somethin' sticky. Somethin' better than tree sap."

"Wot's stickier than tree sap?" Fairy Mary asked.

"I can help you with that. But...uh, we would have to go to the Mainland," Tinker Bell announced.

He looked at Fairy Mary's disapproving face. "Ferget the shelving," he answered.

"Well, okay, I have a project too. A commission. Fairy Gary wants us to build more search beams," Tinker Bell told everyone. "And I'd really like your help."

"Okay, but I also want to start buildin' a thank-you gift fer Dessa, fer savin' me," Clank reminded her. "But I don't know what to make!"

"Oh, buddy, if it comes from the heart, it's all that matters," Bobble answered.

"And if it's hand-crafted, it usually matters more," Tinker Bell added.

"Wait. Hold on." Chipper thoughtfully tapped her chin. "Tinker Bell. Do you still have that pretty blue jewel?"

"Yeah."

"Well, what if you used that to make a lamp? She is a light fairy. And it could be from all her friends."

"Interesting. Miss Bell, would you mind?"

"No. I think it would look great."

"I'm sorry, why would a light fairy need a lamp?" Slate asked.

"Yeah, is she afraid of the dark?" Lucinda added.

"Well, no, I don't think any light fairy is," Clank answered.

"I think it's a lovely idea," Fairy Mary stated.

"It paints a nice image, but it's stupid. No offense."

"There's nothing wrong with having more light," Tabby cut in. "And it doesn't have to mean anything more than thank you.'"

Chipper was smiling at her when Bobble's head swung straight ahead so that he was peering between Tinker Bell and Fairy Mary. At the same time, Terence and Fairy Gary began clapping, their cheers filling the cafeteria.

"Oh my goodness," Bobble gasped. Along with everyone else, Tinker Bell turned her eyes to the door.

Avery was standing there, looking right at Tinker Bell. She released the door and it was still closing as she strode to the tinkers' table.

"Hey," was how she greeted Tinker Bell. She began fumbling her way out of the bench to confront the fairy. "I recognize you. You saved me."

"No. You died."

"Never." Avery shook her head, and her red curls bounced. "I just passed out." She smiled, and her expressive brown eyes crinkled endearingly. "Thank you for trying so hard. I remember."

"Oh. You're welcome."

Avery's grin was killed when Terence spoke from behind. "Avery."

She turned to face him and spoke coldly. "Hm. I remember you, too."

"Yeah, the dust-keeper guy."

"Or the jerk who left me for dead in that fire."

Tinker Bell had thought the cafeteria was quiet before. Now she realized how loud it had been. She could hear herself blink. Nobody moved. All eyes were on Terence.

He looked at Tinker Bell for support, but she couldn't defend him. She quickly looked down at the floor.

Avery shook her head at him. "You're just a bad person," she told him, and she tripped on her own foot as she left the cafeteria.

Terence looked around the cafeteria for the comfort of his friends, but all he could see was judgment.

-x-

Moments later, Zarina burst out of the cafeteria and flew quickly after Avery, catching up to her easily since she was walking. "Avery, I am so sorry about what happened."

"Don't be. You had nothing to do with it." Avery kicked a rock.

"Well, it was a mistake. I'm sure he didn't want that on his conscience; he just didn't think you..."

"You know what, I'm done talking about it." Avery shrugged. "I said everything I had to say to him."

"Alright," Zarina said softly.

Avery took in her withdrawn face and tried to smile, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Hey. Will you still give me a new talent?"

"Of course."

"I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I've decided. I want to be a light fairy."

"Alright then." Zarina reached into her bag and cupped a fistful of orange dust. "Welcome to your new life," she said softly, and threw the dust onto Avery.

Slowly, Avery opened her eyes. And sneezed. "Wow. I'm definitely not a dust-keeper anymore."

"They don't sneeze?"

"Not because of dust." The fairies' giggles blended as they walked to the sunlight that filtered in through the gaps. Avery reached into the shafts of light and they contorted, bending into several directions. "Cool!"

Zarina grinned at her and opened her mouth to reply, when suddenly the ceiling of the thorny cage was pulled away. The fairies shielded their eyes and looked up at the four forms hovering above them.

"Oh yeah," Avery said. "I forgot to tell everyone, but I found people."

Chloe, Fern, Ivy and Lilac flew down into Pixie Hollow. Zarina was just about to greet them when Pixie Hollow was suddenly consumed by a giant shadow, and she looked up so fast she felt a twinge in her neck.

She gave a wordless scream of delight at the countless number of fairies that swarmed the area above Pixie Hollow. There must have been hundreds, and as they swooped low and flew into Pixie Hollow, the doors to the cafeteria burst open and everyone inside came rushing out. Zarina was crying with joy as she was joined by Morgan, Blink, and Gail; who ambushed her in a hug as the laughter of every resident of Pixie Hollow blended together and filled the town with the sounds of life and love. 


End file.
